Cabinet’s own survey shows high poverty, hunger levels

Despite all Malacañang’s spins and excuses, the administration’s own data showed a high level of poverty and hunger, with the incidence of involuntary hunger shown in the Cabinet’s anti-poverty cluster’s commissioned survey hitting a record-high 23.8 percent in March.

The Cabinet’s human development and poverty reduction cluster also showed high prevailing hunger incidence in the Visayas and Mindanao regions but blaming the protracted armed conflict as hampering government efforts to ease hunger in Mindanao.

The Palace, considers the report as a positive development amid claims that current figures as compared to last year’s data corresponding to the hunger incidence showed a six percent decline.

In the government website hdprc.gov.ph, Aquino’s Poverty Cluster also described the Social Weather Stations report on Self-Rated Hunger as “heartening” amid results showing for the first time a drop in figures since June 2011.

The research paper showed the number of Filipino families experiencing hunger dropping below the 20 percent mark with a survey held last May 24 to 27 showing the number falling from 4.8 million households last March to just 3.8 million.

The anti-poverty cluster findings on poverty and food poverty likewise showed food-poor families improving from 45 percent of respondents to 39 percent.

The occurrence of involuntary hunger in Filipino households, however, posted a record high 23.8 percent in March.

The declining number of Filipino families experiencing frequent hunger could be largely attributed to what the Cabinet body claims as “improved economic conditions over-all and vigorous efforts on the part of government to fight poverty and hunger”.

Government data by the region showed overall hunger plummeted by almost 14 points, from 28 percent to 14.3 percent (or 1.3 million families) in Luzon.

In Metro Manila, the cluster said the number of hungry Filipino families in the region fell by over eight points, from 24.3 percent to 16 percent (or 454,000 families).

Results from the Visayas and Mindanao show an increase in hunger incidence.

Visayas posted a seven point increase (from 7.7 percent to 15 percent), while Mindanao is two points higher (from 20 percent to 22.3 percent).

According to the survey, the increase in the number of hungry Filipinos in the Visayas and Mindanao could be attributed as an aftermath of several natural calamities which were seen destroying domestic, agricultural, industrial and financial zones.

Admitting difficulties that the government is experiencing in efforts to rehabilitate devastated areas in the Visayas and Mindanao, the government said that the process requires time before communities are rebuilt.

The government said that the government efforts to rebuild Mindanao were stalled several times because of the “protracted conflict in the region, which limits the access to food for many displaced families”.

The government further claims Improvements were apparent among respondents experiencing moderate or severe hunger over the past three months. Moderate hunger happens when a household has experienced hunger at least once or a few times, while severe hunger means having nothing to eat most of the time. The percentage of moderately hungry families has dipped from 18 percent (3.7 million families) to almost 14 percent (nearly 2.8 million families), while that of severely hungry families fell from 5.8 percent (1.2 million households) to 4.8 percent (974,000 households).

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda earlier said that such findings could be reflecting the gradual effect of government’s social service anti-poverty programs like the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Supplemental Feeding Program and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).

He added that the Hunger Alleviation and Improved Nutrition (HAIN) of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster (HDPRC) also addresses malnutrition among children, improves the food intake of families, increases the income opportunities of target households, disseminates nutritional information and strengthens the practice of key health concepts.

“While short-term spikes are encouraging and certainly prompt the government to monitor the success of its programs more closely, long-term trends are most meaningful, which is what the government is ultimately aiming for”.

“Over-all, we appear to be moving in this general direction. The results reflect the fruits of a favorable economic climate. The rate of inflation—a crucial factor in perceiving hunger because it dictates the prices of basic commodities—is now at a more manageable 2.9 percent, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. In addition, Foreign Direct Investments have soared to 258 percent, greatly supporting more Philippine industries (particularly in the manufacturing and real estate sectors). Finally, the strong employment turn-out for the past few months (at 1 million jobs) has generated more stable income-generating opportunities, leading to increased household spending for necessities, which include food. Less Filipino families are now suffering from hunger, and we expect this to be a continuing trend”, the government’s Poverty Cluster website statement said. –Fernan J. Angeles, Daily Tribune