MANILA, Philippines – Around three million Filipino families had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months, representing a slight increase from figures in the quarter before this, the latest Social weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

In a media release on Thursday, January 19, the SWS said the 11.8% Hunger Rate in the Philippines captured in their December 2022 survey was slightly higher than both the 11.3% hunger rate in October 2022 and 11.6% in June 2022. 

The two most recent hunger rates, recorded by SWS during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., were slightly lower than the 12.2% hunger rate recorded in April 2022, the last such poll it conducted during the administration of then-president Rodrigo Duterte.

In the latest survey, the hunger rate was highest in Mindanao at 12.7%, followed by Visayas at 12.0%, Metro Manila at 11.7%, and Balance Luzon at 11.3%. 

“The 0.5-point increase in Overall Hunger between October 2022 and December 2022 was due to increases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon, combined with decreases in Metro Manila and Mindanao,” SWS said.

Out of the three million families who experienced hunger, 599,000 families experienced “severe hunger” while the rest experienced “moderate hunger.”

1,200 respondents, aged 18 and above, participated in the nationwide fourth-quarter survey of the SWS which were conducted through face-to-face interviews. The pollster interviewed 300 respondents each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.   

The respondents were asked the question, “In the last three months, did it happen even once that your family experienced hunger and not have anything to eat?”

Inflation had soared to 8.1% – the highest since November 2008 – at the time the SWS conducted the survey for hunger. 

A survey conducted in October 2022 by OCTA Research showed that around 36% of adult Filipinos were dissatisfied with the response of the Marcos administration to inflation. – Rappler.com