The proportion of families who experienced involuntary hunger increased nationwide by 1.3 points?the equivalent of an additional 300,000 families?after the onslaught of Tropical Storms ?Ondoy? and ?Pepeng,? according to a special Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey, conducted from Oct. 24 to 27 and released yesterday, found that hunger rose to 18.9 percent nationwide from the 17.5 percent posted in the previous survey conducted on Sept. 18 to 21.

Ondoy swept across Luzon on Sept. 26. Pepeng struck a week later.

The new hunger figure represented an estimated 3.5 million families, or 300,000 more than the estimated 3.2 million hungry families as of September.

The increase occurred mainly in Luzon outside Metro Manila.

SWS said the new reading of hunger ?was made possible by adding, with permission, a questionnaire for household heads to a survey of adults privately commissioned by a nonpolitical sponsor who desires anonymity.?

The survey questions were directed to the household heads, using the phrase ?nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain (experienced hunger and did not have anything to eat).

Overall hunger rose by almost 6 percentage points in Luzon outside Metro Manila, from 13.5 percent (1.1 million families) in September to 19.3 percent (1.6 million families) in October.

It rose by almost a point in the Visayas, from 19 percent (700,000 families) to 20.3 percent (750,000 families).

It declined by almost 9 points in Metro Manila, from 24.7 percent (600,000 families) to 16 percent (390,000 families).

It fell by almost 2 points in Mindanao, from 19.7 percent (800,000 families) to 18 percent (760,000 families).

According to SWS, the rise in overall hunger in just over a month resulted from a 0.5-point increase in ?moderate hunger?, combined with a 0.8-point increase in ?severe hunger?.

?Moderate hunger,? or those who experienced hunger ?only once? or ?a few times? in the last three months, went up from 14.5 percent (2.7 million families) in September to 15 percent (2.8 million families) in October.

?Severe hunger,? or those who suffered hunger ?often? or ?always? in the last three months, went up 3 points (est. 550,000 families) in September to 3.8 percent (700,000 families) in October.

The survey was conducted using to face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults. It had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percent for national percentages and plus or minus 6 percent for area percentages. Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research