THE number of Filipinos who said they experienced involuntary hunger went down a bit in the latest survey of Social Weather Stations.
The results of the polling firm’s survey in the first quarter this year showed that 11.9 percent or 2.7 million households did not have enough food against 13.9 percent or 3.1 million families in the last quarter last year.
The survey was conducted among 1,200 respondents.
The quarterly hunger rate fell by 3.9 points among the self-rated poor to 17.1 percent, while some 4.2 points were recorded as a decline in the hunger rate among the self-rated food-poor to 20.7 percent in the first quarter.
Those who said they experienced moderate hunger likewise dropped by 1.2 points in the first quarter to 9.7 percent or an estimated 2.2 million households from the previous survey’s 10.9 percent, while severe hunger logged a 0.8-point decline to 2.2 percent or an estimated 510,000 households.
The same survey also bared a drop in the hunger rate in Metro Manila and the other regions except in Mindanao, where it rose by 1.7 points to 11.7 percent.
Moderate hunger in the country rose by 0.4 point to 9.3 percent. Severe hunger surged by 2.0 points in Mindanao to 2.3 percent from the record-low 0.3 percent, the highest reading since December 2015.
In Metro Manila, the hunger rate overall fell by 1.0 point to 12 percent, while moderate hunger there rose 2.0 points to 10 percent while severe hunger fell by 3 points to 2 percent.
In Balance Luzon, the hunger rate registered at 11.3 percent, down 3.7 points from the last survey. In terms of degree, both severe and moderate hunger in that region fell to 2.3 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
The hunger rate fell by 3.0 points in the Visayas to 13.7 percent, while moderate hunger dropped by 2.3 points to 11.7 percent. Severe hunger sank 0.7 point to 2 percent.
Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the survey results “affirms the Duterte administration’s poverty alleviation efforts, which are beginning to make a positive impact on those inhabiting the lowest rung of society.”
“Our long-term goal, however, is to better the lives of Filipinos through the effective delivery of goods and services like higher infrastructure investments and the promotion of easy access microfinancing system,” Abella said.
The latest survey was conducted from March 25 to 28 and had a sampling error margin of ±3 points for the national percentages.
