Fewer hungry Filipinos in Q4 of 2015

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

THE NUMBER of Filipino families who went hungry in the last quarter of 2015 declined by an estimated 900,000 families, bringing down the hunger incidence in the country to its lowest level in 11 years, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey, conducted from Dec. 5 to 8, 2015, and first released by BusinessWorld, found that 11.7 percent of respondents (about 2.6 million families) said they experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last quarter, down from 15.7 percent (about 3.5 million families) in September last year.

This resulted in a full-year average hunger rate of 13.4 percent, the lowest since the record 11.8 percent registered in 2004.

Malacañang Monday welcomed the results of the latest SWS survey on hunger.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda credited the administration’s inclusive growth thrust for the positive development.

In a statement, he said “as the north star of the current administration, inclusive growth has long been guiding our government in its various endeavors. The main goal is to include everyone in the nation’s rise.”

Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Aquino administration is “determined to sustain the gains achieved (during the past five and a half years) in terms of addressing poverty and hunger.”

“That is why, the biggest slice of the 2016 budget was allotted for social protection and human development,” he told reporters.

The results of the latest hunger survey came after last week’s SWS self-rated poverty report, which found self-rated poverty basically unchanged at 50 percent (about 11.2 million families) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

In the same survey, conducted in the same period, the SWS also found 33 percent, or about 7.4 million families, considered themselves food-poor in December, slightly down from 35 percent, or about 7.8 million families, in September.

The decrease in hunger incidence was most pronounced in Mindanao, where it dropped to 13 percent in December (from 21.7 percent in September), a record low rating also posted in the region in September 2011.

Overall hunger also went down in Luzon outside of Metro Manila, where it decreased from 14.7 percent to

9.7 percent between September and December.   Inquirer Research; with a report from Jerry E. Esplanada