Gov’t eyes online apps in fight vs hunger

MANILA, Philippines — The government will tap more information and communications technologies (ICT) in fighting hunger, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who leads the government’s Zero Hunger Task Force, said in a statement that the government had already used ICT tools, like RapidPass, successfully and plans to use others, like the Supply Chain Analytics (SCAN) app, to trace and address hunger.

He revealed the plan after a recent Social Weather Stations survey showed that 16.7 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.

The SWS polled 4,010 respondents using mobile phones, with 99 percent answering yes when asked if they received food assistance to help them cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

—JULIE M. AURELIO