My $26 is ‘enough’ to feed one family in the Philippines

“The cake can always get bigger because the cake is imaginary. We can always make more money because money is just an accounting system.”

—Tom Suberg

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I HAD $26 in cash in my wallet when I left Flushing, Queens, for Manhattan on the afternoon of October 19.

At Union Square in Manhattan, I made a $5 payment on my Capital One credit card.

With $21 left, I went into McDonald's and spent $7.93 on a chicken burger and a juice. I left home with a $13.07 cash.

When I checked the exchange rate, one US dollar was already equivalent to Philippine Peso 63. Thus, if I had $26, it was worth P1,638 in the Philippines.

With $13.07, my money in the US is equivalent to P823.41 in the Philippines. What can a P823.41buy for one household in the Philippines? 

I just learned that a 25-kilogram sack (half-sack) typically costs between P1,150 and P1,600.

A half sack of rice (typically 25 kilograms, since a standard full sack in the Philippines weighs 50 kg) will last anywhere from two weeks to about two months, depending heavily on the size of one household and how often rice is eaten.

 

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A breakdown by household size (using a 25 kg half sack) will show the following:

-solo/single person: Lasts about 1.5 to 2.5 months (consuming roughly 300–400g of dry rice a day across meals).

-couple /2-person household: Lasts about 3 to 4 weeks.

-family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children): Lasts about 1.5 to 2 weeks.

-larger family (6+ members or heavy rice eaters): Lasts about 7 to 10 days.

Whew!

If I had not paid my debit card and had not dropped by the McDonald’s that Monday afternoon, I could have fed one family for a month if I had sent the $26 to the Philippines.

The economy isn’t showing signs of growth, as well. While the Philippine peso is being pummeled from pillar to post in the currency exchange rate, the Philippines' headline inflation rate was 7.2 percent as of September 2026, accelerating from 6.1 percent in August 2026, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The key inflation details as of September 2026 were as follows:

-year-to-Date Average: The average inflation rate from January to September 2026 stands at 5.4 percent.

 

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-core inflation: Rises to 4.7 percent (excluding selected volatile food and energy items) from 4.1 percent in August.

-bottom 30 percent income households: Inflation for lower-income groups climbed higher to 9.0 percent, driven heavily by essential food and utility expenses.

Main drivers of inflation are:

-transport: Increased by 14.6 percent, driven by oil and energy cost pressures.

-housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels: Rose by 8.4 percent.

-food and non-alcoholic beverages: accelerated to 6.7 percent (with food inflation specifically hitting 6.8 percent, heavily impacted by vegetables, tubers, and cooking staples).

-restaurants and accommodation services: Increased by 7.0 percent.

This could only mean one thing: the Philippine economy is facing a significant slowdown and growing financial strain in 2026, driven by high inflation, a weakening currency, and contracting public spending.

To improve the Philippine economy, international financial institutions and economists emphasize moving beyond a purely consumption- and remittance-driven model toward high-productivity, structural transformation.

 

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According to Dough Schoen and Carly Cooperman of Fox News, Democrats could well be on the cusp of a major wave midterm election on November 3 with an 8-point lead on the generic congressional ballot among their highest of the cycle.

“We say this based on historical trends and the current political mood. At this point in 2018, the last blue wave, Democrats led the generic ballot by roughly 7 points before gaining 41 House seats,” they wrote.

Moreover, the president’s party losing seats in midterms is essentially law in American politics.

It has reportedly happened in all but three elections since the Roosevelt administration.

From 1934 through 2018, the president’s party lost an average of 28 House seats and four Senate seats, and over the past five midterms, the average net loss for the president’s party has been 31 House seats, explained Schoen and Cooperman.

To be clear, Republicans could make up ground for a number of critical reasons: Democrats remain divided ideologically, lack a message and an identity other than being anti-President Trump, and Republicans have a considerable cash advantage.

(The author is based in New York City and used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)