₱500 OK for 1 kg of onions, not Noche Buena – Imee Marcos
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Sen, Imee Marcos took a swipe on Saturday at the estimate of the Department of Trade and Industry that a simple Noche Buena would only cost ₱500.
Speaking during her book launch, Marcos said would be more realistic to save ₱500 to buy 1 kilogram of onions.
“I don’t know why I embarked on a cookbook at a time when food prices are horrific. [A] five-hundred peso Noche Buena is not real, but it’s more like five hundred pesos per kilo of onions,” Marcos said at the “Pandesal Forum” at the Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City.
WATCH: Senator Imee Marcos said that 500 pesos for Noche Buena is not real, but it’s more like 500 pesos per kilo of onions during her "Pinakbest" (Recipes from the Marcos kitchen) cook book launching and signing at Pandesal forum. |🎥: Pandesal forum via @dMorcosoINQ pic.twitter.com/4Ip7lbSuNy
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) December 17, 2022
As of late November, a kilogram of onions had a market price of P300 – up from only P180 per kilogram in a similar period last year, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.
Another earlier report about the DTI’s list of Noche Buena items worth P500 became the target of criticism by social media users, who insisted that the recommended items would not enough and that other items were not taken into consideration.
Cookbook
Meanwhile, Marcos launched a cookbook called “PinakBEST! (Recipes from the Marcos Kitchen).”
“All these recipes that we grew up eating … the great Ilocano tradition that I think my father more or less ruined. My dad gave Ilocano food a very bad name,” Marcos joked, referring to the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“But truth to tell, it is a unique regional cuisine, and deserving of attention like Bicol, Kapampangan, and Bisaya food. This regional outpouring of talent in the kitchen should be recognized,” she added.
The full-color book costs ₱595 pesos per copy.
