Life is hard? ‘Haka-haka lang iyan,’ anti-poverty czar Gadon says

Atty Larry Gadon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential anti-poverty czar and disbarred lawyer Larry Gadon on Friday said that those who think life is hard are merely imagining things.

“Sa totoo lang, iyong mga nagsasabi ng napakahirap ng buhay ay sila lang ang nagsasabi niyan, haka-haka lang nila iyan,” Gadon said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

(To be honest, those who say that life is very difficult are the only ones saying that; it is just in their imagination.)

Gadon said that those who believe that life is tough need only go to the malls to see how much Filipinos are buying.

READ: SWS: Families who suffer from hunger rises to over 14%; highest rate in NCR

“Pero ang katotohanan, magpunta ka sa mga mall punung-puno, ibig sabihin mataas ang purchasing power ng mga tao,” said Gadon at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

(In truth, go to the malls, it is full. It means that there is a high purchasing power for people.)

Gadon also cited the fast food franchises in the provinces as proof that life was getting better in the Philippines.

READ: PH January unemployment rate jumps to 4.5%

“Lumabas ka ng kalsada at napakaraming mga bagong kotse, napakatrapik, ano ang ibig sabihin niyan, marami ang nakakabili ng kotse, marami ang nakakabili ng sasakyan – that means maganda ang ekonomiya,” said Gadon.

(You go out on the street, and there are a lot of new cars, so there is traffic. What does that mean? A lot of people could buy cars—that means the economy is good.)

However, recent data seemingly contradicts this after the Social Weather Stations found that involuntary hunger in the country rose to 14.2 percent in March from 12.6 percent in December 2023.