HUNGER incidence worsened as some 3.4 million households experienced it in the last quarter, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.
The Second Quarter Social Weather Survey done on June 24-27, or days before the inauguration of President Duterte, found that 15.2 percent of 1,200 respondents nationwide said they suffered from involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months.
The latest figure is 1.5 percentage up from 13.7 percent in April, during which 3.1 million families suffered from involuntary hunger.
The SWS asked respondents in Filipino: “In the last three months, did it happen even once that your family experienced hunger and did not have anything to eat?” Those who answered in the affirmative were further asked: “Did it happen ‘only once,’ ‘a few times,’ ‘often’ or ‘always?’”
Margin of error
The noncommissioned poll, results of which were first published in BusinessWorld, had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
SWS classified experiencing hunger “only once” or “a few times” as “moderate hunger,” while going hungry “often” or “always” was rated as “severe hunger.”
Moderate hunger rose to 13.2 percent (three million families) in June from 11.6 percent (2.6 million families) in April, while severe hunger slightly moved to 2 percent (446,000 families) from 2.1 percent (481,000).
Across regions, hunger incidence rose in the Visayas (15.7 percent or 681,000 families from 10.3 percent or 449,000 families), Metro Manila (17 percent or 521,000 families from 14 percent or 429,000 families), and the rest of Luzon (15.3 percent or 1.5 million families from 12.3 percent or 1.2 million families). It dropped in Mindanao, from 19 percent or 978,000 families to 13.3 percent or 687,000 families. Inquirer Research