The number of Filipino families experiencing hunger “hardly moved” in the third quarter at 11.3 percent under the Marcos administration from 11.6 percent in the second quarter, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.
The SWS survey said the 11.3-percent rating is equivalent to about 2.9 million Filipino families who experienced “involuntary hunger” moving into the third quarter of the year.
The 11.6 percent in the second quarter survey, conducted during the tail end of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in June, is also estimated to be equal to 2.9 million families.
The SWS said the 11.3 percent hunger rate is the sum of 9.1 percent who experienced “moderate hunger”—or those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times”—and 2.2 percent who experienced “severe hunger” or those who experienced it “often” or “always.”
Hunger in Metro Manila rose by 1.6 points from 14.7 percent in June, while it also rose 1.3 points in the Visayas and Mindanao from 5.7 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, in Balance Luzon or the rest of Luzon excluding Metro Manila, hunger fell by 2.3 points from 11.9 percent.
The SWS said overall hunger dropped among those who rated themselves as “non-poor” to 6.7 percent from 8.1 percent, while it increased to 16 percent from 15.3 percent among those who rated themselves as poor.
The latest SWS survey was conducted from September 29 to October 2 using face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adult Filipinos. It has a margin of error of ±2.5 percent for national percentages; ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao; and ±4.0 percent for Balance Luzon.
Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda on Wednesday expressed alarm over the hunger survey results which showed overall hunger only decreased by 0.2 percentage points from the second quarter.
“It’s alarming that despite more reopening of the economy, hunger remains stubborn. This, I attribute in large part to high inflation with a still-fluid jobs situation. But the availability of cheap food at all times is also clearly a major cause,” he said.
“Metro Manila, where inflation has been lower than most other regions, has the highest hunger rate among the major groupings,” Salceda, chair of the House committee on ways and means, said in a statement.
In response to the risks of higher or continuing hunger, Salceda urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to compose a “Food Security Cluster” in the Cabinet to take up issues with food security and hunger in a “more holistic, whole-of-government way.”
“There are areas with food security that are beyond the mandate of the Department of Agriculture, which PBBM heads. Whether we like it or not, for example, some 20 to 25 percent of our food is imported. So, Customs, the DOTr, and our ports play a key role in getting food where it is needed,” Salceda said.
“As long as hunger numbers do not see major improvements, and given global conditions, food security should be atop PBBM’s priorities, with agriculture and food trade being the most important concerns,” he added.