MANILA, Philippines – The variance in the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) hunger incidence ratings was only due to different methodologies used, an administration official claimed.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Tuesday clarified that both data — 5.5 million hungry Filipinos for Neda and around 9.5 million for SWS — are being used to form targets, like lowering hunger rates by 25 percent before President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office in 2022.
“In the Philippines kung titignan mo ‘yong magnitude ng food poor based sa NEDA is nasa 5.5 million Filipinos ang hungry based on the metrics of NEDA, and that is based on 5.1 percent of the population,” he said during the Pandesal forum in Kamuning, Quezon City.
(If you look at the magnitude of food poor families in the Philippines according to on NEDA, there are 5.5 million Filipinos hungry based on their metrics. That is based on their findings of 5.1 percent of the population.)
“But if you look at SWS, ang kanila kasi nasa 9.3 percent ang self-rated hunger […] so roughly if you base it on SWS nasa about 9.5 million, 9.9 million. So ‘yon ‘yong ating gauge, iba kasi ‘yong methodology ng SWS, iba ‘yong methodology ng NEDA,” he added.
(But if you look at SWS, they would show that the self-rated hunger is at 9.3 percent. So roughly, if you base it on SWS, there are about 9.5 million or 9.9 million. So that’s our gauge, but SWS has a different methodology compared to NEDA.)
Nograles noted that the important thing for them is to be able to reduce food poverty incidence despite the variations — which supposedly has been the case as shown by the SWS survey itself.
Last January, SWS released a report saying that the annual average of Filipinos who experienced hunger for 2019 has dropped to 9.3 percent, from 10.8 percent in 2018. It forms part of a steady decline in hunger rates, which peaked at 19.9 percent in 2011 and 2012.
READ: SWS: Fewer hungry Pinoys in 4th quarter
“In terms of the subsistence, thresholds natin that is being studied by NEDA, bumababa naman ‘yong families natin that are food-poor, and even if you look at SWS self-rated hunger surveys, bumababa na rin ‘yong self-rated hunger,” Nograles said.
(In terms of the subsistence, based on the thresholds that are being studied by NEDA, the number of food-poor families decreased, and even if you look at at SWS self-rated hunger surveys, it also decreased.)
“But on either indexes, ang titignan natin, nagkaroon ba ng how many percent decrease ‘yan by the end of the term of the President. So sabihin natin ang target natin is 25 percent, so dapat by 2022, ‘yong 9.3 percent na self-rated hunger ng SWS mabawasan natin by 25 percent,” he added.
(But on either index, what we are looking for is if there was a percentage decrease by the end of the President’s term. So if our target is a reduction of 25 percent, by 2022, the SWS’ estimates of 9.3 percent self-rated hunger incidence should be down by 25 percent as well.)
While lesser Filipinos experienced hunger by the end of 2019, the same survey firm said that self-rated poverty ratings among the population went up to 54 percent — the highest since under Duterte’s term and since 2014.
Self-rated food poverty ratings also rose by six points, up to 35 percent in December 2019 from just 29 percent in September 2019 — or an estimated 8.6 million in December and 7.1 million in September.
However, SWS also noted that both self-rated poverty (SRP) and self-rated food poverty ratings (SRFP) averages were down annually. The SRP for 2019 was at 45 percent, down from 48 percent in 2018, while the SRFP in 2019 is at 31 percent from 33 percent in 2018.
READ: SWS: More Filipinos consider selves poor, self-rated poverty highest in 5 years
Nograles said that the government is formulating ways to reduce hunger incidence, towards the goal of a hunger-free Philippines by 2030.
“Basically the target is, by the end of the term of the President, we hope to be able to cut down hunger incidence in the Philippines by 25 percent. 2020 ngayon (It is 2020 now), if we want to accomplish zero hunger by 2020, every two and a half years we have to see a 25 percent reduction in hunger incidence,” he added.