SWS: 1.3 M more families ‘hungry’

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino families that experienced hunger grew from about three million households in June to about 4.3 million in September, according to a survey released yesterday by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll conducted from Sept. 4 to 7 found that one in five families or 21.5 percent (an estimated 4.3 million families nationwide) experienced having nothing to eat in the last three months, up from the 15.1 percent (about three million households) in June and a point worse than March’s 20.5 percent.

SWS said the latest hunger figure, which was also 7.5 points above the 13-year average of 14 percent, is the worst so far for the Aquino government but is still below the record 24 percent recorded in December 2009 during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Results of the SWS survey on hunger were published yesterday in the newspaper BusinessWorld.

Moderate and severe hunger increased by nearly five points to 18 percent (3.6 million families) and 1.5 points to 3.5 percent (713,000 families), respectively. Both were also above the 13-year averages, the SWS said.

“Moderate hunger” refers to experiencing having nothing to eat “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months, while “severe hunger” involves going hungry “often” or “always.”

Overall hunger increased significantly in balance Luzon, hitting a record 28.3 percent (2.5 million families) from 9.7 percent previously. The previous peak of 25 percent was hit in March this year.

Overall hunger was also 10 points up in Metro Manila to 23 percent (647,000 families), the SWS said.

However, the SWS said an 8.7-point decline was recorded in Mindanao to 13 percent (620,000 families) and a 5.7-point improvement in the Visayas to 15.3 percent (587,000 families).

Moderate hunger hit a record 24.3 percent in balance Luzon, up by 16.6 points from June and surpassed the previous peak of 18.7 percent in March 2011. The latest level is 14 points above the 13-year average of 10.3 percent.

Moderate hunger also increased by 5.4 points in Metro Manila from 11.3 percent in June to 16.7 percent in September.

It was down by nine points in Mindanao to 11 percent and fell by 5.3 points in the Visayas to 13 percent.

SWS said the latest moderate hunger rates are higher than their 13-year averages in all areas except Mindanao.

Severe hunger, meanwhile, was highest in Metro Manila, rising by 4.6 points to 6.3 percent — the highest since December 2009’s 7.3 percent and 2.8 points above the 13-year average of 3.5 percent.

It increased by two points in balance Luzon, to four percent (above the 13-year average of three percent), and by 0.3 points in Mindanao to two percent (below the 13-year average of 4.2 percent).

Severe hunger was down in the Visayas to 2.3 percent from 2.7 percent in June, below the 13-year average of 3.2 percent for the region.

The SWS poll used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

Error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and six percentage points were for area percentages were applied in the survey. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)