JULY 20 — Malacañang has welcomed the results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on hunger, which showed a 12.7 percent drop in the second quarter of the year, the lowest in a decade.
“We welcome the latest results of the Social Weather Stations’ self-rated survey on hunger, which saw a significant drop in the number of families experiencing involuntary hunger: from 16.3 percent in June 2014 to 12.7 percent. According to the SWS, this is the lowest recorded rate in ten years, since May 2005,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a statement issued on Monday.
Valte said that since 2010, the Aquino administration has been pressing forward in its goal of inclusive growth, toward a future where no one is left behind.
She noted that among the government’s initiatives is the expanded Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, which covers more than 4.4 million households.
“The program is an example of the government’s commitment to the Filipino people, as it embodies concrete investments in human development, empowering beneficiaries and their families to better care for themselves. This is consistent with recent survey results on unemployment and underemployment, which have gone down under this administration,” she added.
The Palace official further said that inflation has been kept down and the prices of basic commodities have remained relatively steady, owing to the government’s efforts to ensure the consistency of food supply in the country.
“Recent results show that self-rated hunger has been on a downward trend these past quarters. We hope that this will continue, as the administration further ramps up its efforts to implement programs and policies that will contribute to a better overall quality of life for our citizens,” she said.
The SWS survey, conducted on June 5 to 8 among 1,200 adults nationwide, showed that 12.7 percent of the respondents, equivalent to about 2.8 million families, said they have experienced hunger at least once in the past three months.
It also noted that this result is 0.8 percent lower than the first quarter’s 13.5 percent (about 3 million families), and is the lowest since May 2005’s 12 percent.
The latest poll also showed that 10.8 percent, or about 2.4 million families, experienced “moderate hunger” (experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months), while 1.9 percent (431,000 families) said they experienced “severe hunger” (experienced hunger “often” or “always” over the same period). PND (jm)