Vlad Bunoan

Article (news)

JR Royol

ABS-CBN Lifestyle

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764577712568586594405_1299749942168230_8047206120473487374_n.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>JR Royol/Facebook</div>MANILA — Celebrity chef and “MasterChef Pinoy Edition” winner JR Royol criticized the recent claim by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that a Filipino family can prepare a full Noche Buena meal with just P500 — calling it a tone-deaf suggestion that ignores the realities of everyday Filipino households.Last week,<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/11/28/dti-says-p500-basic-noche-buena-budget-depends-on-family-size-1653"> Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said a family of four or less can still have a simple Christmas meal with just P500</a> based on the Department of Trade and Industry Noche Buena price guide.The sample menu included items such as ham, spaghetti, fruit salad and pandesal. But lawmakers, labor groups and many ordinary Filipinos balked at the idea, calling the estimate “out-of-touch” and “insulting.”In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1304375761705648&amp;set=pb.100063997089565.-2207520000">Facebook post commenting on the backlash</a>, Royol acknowledged that “yes — anyone in a difficult financial situation can force a celebration out of P500,” and said he understood that Christmas need not hinge on lavish feasts. “A simple meal, shared with the people you love, is and SHOULD be more than enough,” he wrote.But Royol stressed that the DTI’s remark misses the point. “There are families who want to splurge once a year — not out of excess, but out of longing. Out of the desire to give their kids even just one day where life feels normal, joyful, dignified,” he wrote.He warned that framing P500 as “enough” was not merely bad budgeting advice — it was a subtle effort to “normalize hardship” and encourage people to accept “survival-level living conditions” as the standard. “By saying ‘P500 is enough,’ they’re not giving budgeting advice. They’re shaping perception. They’re shifting blame. They’re conditioning people to accept less, expect less, and demand less — while billions quietly disappear and the powerful continue to eat well,” he said.For Royol, the strong backlash to the remark reflects widespread fatigue among Filipinos. “It shows how tired we are. How fed up. How done we are with being told to endure while others enjoy,” he wrote. He also expressed a measure of hope, noting that the public’s refusal to accept such narratives could drive change.“That awakening — that collective refusal to swallow the same old narrative — is the one hopeful thing in all of this,” Royol added.

Celebrity chef and “MasterChef Pinoy Edition” winner JR Royol criticized the recent claim by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that a Filipino family can prepare a full Noche Buena meal with just P500.

Celebrity chef and “MasterChef Pinoy Edition” winner JR Royol criticized the recent claim by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that a Filipino family can prepare a full Noche Buena meal with just P500.

Chef JR Royol hits back over P500 Noche Buena budget claim

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Chef JR Royol hits back over P500 Noche Buena budget claim

ABS-CBN Lifestyle

Published Dec 01, 2025 04:34 PM PHT

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Updated Dec 01, 2025 05:08 PM PHT

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JR Royol

Noche Buena

DTI

food budget

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