Addressing Hunger in Bagong Pilipinas

A recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows that 14.2% of Filipino families have experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.  The latest hunger figure is said to be the highest since the 16.8% registered in May 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This SWS survey comes on the heels of the announcement of the Marcos Jr Administration’s economic managers last month that the Philippines remains on track to achieve upper middle income status by 2025.

The country’s “good” economic performance or its “high” growth rate, however, matters a little if one in 10 Filipino families goes hungry or has nothing to eat.

Indeed, no Filipino should be left behind in development.

Government has acknowledged this with its “Walang Gutom 2027.”

Eight months ago, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr, together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), led the initial rollout of the Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program (FSP) in Surigao del Norte.

Like the other ayudas, the FSP is a short stop gap measure, as this is meant to be a food augmentation program to the bottom one million households. Government must decisively address and reign in the urgent concern of inflation, which inched up to 3.8 percent in April 2024, faster than the 3.7 percent recorded in the previous month, according to yesterday’s briefing of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Government interventions should be ramped up to help lower food prices.

More than easing the importation process for agricultural products, which the President did by issuing Administrative Order No. 20, the Marcos Jr Administration should increase agricultural productivity by strengthening the agriculture sector and assisting farmers and fisherfolks who are struggling to survive, especially now that El Nino is taking a huge toll in agricultural production.

As they say, you can’t build a peaceful world on an empty stomach.