THE Social Weather Survey revealed that 3.95 million Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once during the first three months of 2024.
Leo Laroza, Social Weather Stations Director for Communication and Information Technology, defined involuntary hunger as “being hungry and not having anything to eat.”
“It’s either wala silang means…walang pamibili, or kahit may pambili wala namang access o walang mapagbilhan,” he said.
The 14.2 percent hunger rate in March 2024, which is 1.6 higher than the hunger rate seen in December 2023, was the sum of 12.2 percent who experienced “Moderate Hunger” and 2 percent who experienced “Severe Hunger.”
Moderate Hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months. Meanwhile, Severe Hunger refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the previous three months.
Compared to December 2023, Moderate Hunger rose by 1 point from 11.2 percent, while Severe Hunger rose by 0.6 points from 1.4 percent.
The survey was conducted from March 21-25, 2024.
Families in Metro Manila were the hardest hit with 19 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 15.3 percent, the Visayas at 15 percent, and Mindanao at 8.7 percent.
Hungry Pinoy families rise to 3.95M in Q1
