FILIPINO families that experienced hunger in July to September, the first three months of the Marcos administration, slightly fell to 11.3% from 11.6% in June, according to a poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
This was equivalent to 2.9 million people, the same number recorded a quarter earlier, the pollster said in a statement on Sunday.
The hunger rate in October 2022 was 0.9 percentage points lower than 12.2% in April and 0.5 points lower than 11.8 in December 2021, it added.
The October hunger rate was 1.3 points higher than 10% in September 2021 and two points higher than the pre-pandemic annual average of 9.3% in 2019, it added.
The hunger incidence in Metro Manila rose by 1.6 points to 16.3% of families from 14.7% in June, followed by 1.3-point increase in Visayas to 7.0% from 5.7%, and 1.3-point increase in Mindanao to 15.3% from 14.0%.
Luzon areas outside Metro Manila saw a 2.3-point decrease to 9.6% from 11.9%.
The SWS noted that hunger incidence in Metro Manilas was the highest “in 25 out of the 99 surveys since July 1998.”
“The 11.3% hunger rate in October 2022 is the sum of 9.1% (est. 2.3 million families) who experienced moderate hunger and 2.2% severe hunger,” it said.
Moderate hunger referred to those who experienced hunger only once or a few times in the last three months, while those who had “severe hunger” were “often or always hungry” during the same period.
SWS interviewed 1,500 respondents on Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 for the survey, which had an error margin of ±2.5 points. — John Victor D. Ordoñez