noche buena – TYPiNG ouT oF THe BLue

Simbang Gabi is about preparation.

For nine days, people wake up early while everything is still quiet. It slows you down before Christmas arrives.

Christmas is about the coming of Jesus. Simbang Gabi prepares the heart for that moment. It teaches patience, presence, and attention.

In another way, Simbang Gabi is also a countdown to Noche Buena. Not to the food, but to being together.

Most days, families are incomplete. Work, school, and daily schedules pull people in different directions. Meals are rushed or taken separately. This has become normal.

Noche Buena is different. At midnight, families try to gather at one table, even if only once in the year. The food is not the focus. It represents the blessings received through shared effort and sacrifice.

What matters is that people are present. Together. Thankful.

Simbang Gabi leads to that moment. It reminds us to prepare not just the home, but relationships.

It is not about getting what we want, but about being thankful for what we have.

⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ

***Merely Christmas • Darem Placer***
Out this season on **Bandcamp**.

The ₱500 Noche Buena talk didn’t go viral because people wanted a fancy Christmas spread. It grew big because the message felt off. When the DTI said a family could prepare Noche Buena for ₱500, many felt it sounded like, “This is the level you should settle for.”

For most families, Noche Buena isn’t about expensive food. It’s the one night in the year when you hope to feel complete, even in a simple way. But when someone in authority says “₱500 is enough,” the meaning shifts. It starts to feel like they are deciding what kind of Christmas is “acceptable” based on the wages people are trying to survive on.

People reacted because it didn’t match reality. Prices keep going up. Salaries barely move. Every month feels like another round of stretching the same money. So when a government office says a small amount is “enough,” it hits deeper than food.

And the truth is simple: ₱500 only works if you buy the cheapest possible ingredients and only if the family is small. It is not the usual Noche Buena most Filipinos grew up with.

Here’s what ₱500 realistically covers today (using the lowest market prices):

• Cheap spaghetti set (pasta + sauce + small cheese) — ₱120
• Basic fruit salad set (fruit cocktail + cream) — ₱90
• Basic macaroni salad set — ₱100
• Small canned luncheon meat — ₱60

Estimated total: ₱370–₱450
Portions: Enough for 3 people only
Small servings. No drinks. No bread. No rice. No extras.

So when people questioned the DTI, it wasn’t about wanting a feast. It was the feeling that instead of improving people’s lives, the standard is being lowered to match the wages—and then presented as “okay.”

Families don’t mind simple food. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem is when “simple” is treated like a limit instead of a choice.

Filipinos can stretch a budget. They have always done that. But they shouldn’t have to stretch their whole life just to get by. Sometimes that’s all you need to remember—You Will Get By.