The cost of living is PhP 158 per person per day for food and non-food needs (NWPC, July 2007)
you would need more than that in order to eat three times a day plus other basic necessities.

although the stats are very interesting, they are not shocking in a country where:
*corruption is rampant, because the "controls systems" in the goverment are very laxed.
*various religious groups meddle in politics--
***they object to solutions that could probably alleviate poverty.
***they have a big political clout. politicians fish for their votes, which subject the politicians to conflict of interest. they do things to please them (it may not necessarily benefit the WHOLE society), thus guaranteeing their votes in the election
*we are very religious and try to live our lives according to our religious beliefs, but we are not conscientious enough when it comes to obeying simple rules implemented by our government. how can you expect our society to improve?

these are some of the reasons we are in this predicament (i'm sure there are more). you don't see any of the above in rich nations (except maybe a little bit of corruption). the philippine government has good rules and regulations to govern the citizens, and programs to benefit the people. it just lacks proper implementation.