It is pathetic for the Marcos Jr., regime to be talking how the country is progressing when the latest economic reports showed that only plutocrats and their surrogates are earning superprofits from their companies, the money markets and the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) so much so that they can throw their money into casinos in South Africa, villas in the United Arab Emirates (uae) and stash their billions in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cyprus, Singapore (yes, that lily-white island-republic can be a good hiding place where “no one” ever goes) and even cryptocurrency.
There is no stopping the compradors, rentiers and bureaucrats from keeping their money in safe havens why the Filipino people suffer from slave wages, ever-rising prices and lack of job security. While they keep their loot overseas, including tycoons who double as treasurers of political parties, they are rarely aware that an increasing segment of the population has been going hungry. Despite the much-ballyhooed Food Security Emergency launched by the regime, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey indicates that it has gone to seed, not even offering a balm to the suffering millions. Indeed, a slew of moves by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade (DOT) to control the prices of prime commodities has failed.
The latest SWS survey revealed that 27.2% of Filipino families, which means 7.5 million households, experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months, the highest recorded hunger incidence since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. High food prices, unmitigated food importations and the failure to address farmers’ demand for support have conspired to prove that the Marcos Jr. administration has failed to abide by its Constitutional duty to safeguard the welfare of the people. The regime, like its predecessor, has been obsessed with megalithic structures and wants to build whatever has to be built to realize its Build Build More (BBM) illusion.
In fact, the country’s trade deficit has worsened when the government itself became the biggest importer to support its infrastructure program, buying structurally weak steel products from China, importing cement frm Vietnam and others even as local manufacturers are howling over low demand and pampering Chinese companies tjhat have long been violating provisions of the building code for so long. The collapse of a 33-storey building erected by a Chinese contractor in Bangkok as a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Myanmar should serve as a lesson to check all Chinese building projects in the Philippines, including the dam in the Sierra Madre. Just as the DA must never lose sight of the fact that Chinese food products are often of dubious quality, and the country normally suffers from recurrent bird flu and swine flu outbreaks. The reality that the DA and the Marcos Jr. regime wish to foist upon us is that the country’s farm sector is backward and suffers from low productivity. Yet, it cannot explain why there has been a glut of farm products, to the extent that farmers now throw away tomatoes.
“The so-called emergency declaration was nothing but a publicity stunt while hunger and food prices soared,” said KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos, also a Makabayan senatorial candidate, argued. “Habang lugmok sa utang ang mga magsasaka, patuloy na pinapaboran ng gobyerno ang kartel sa bigas at mga importer. Ang sagot sa krisis na ito ay hindi pag-aangkat kundi ang pagtitiyak ng tunay na suporta para sa lokal na produksyon,” he explained. KMP linked the worsening hunger crisis to the continued erosion of real wages and the unabated increases in food prices. IBON Foundation said the real value of the minimum daily wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) has dropped to only P516 even as the cost of basic food items has skyrocketed. The price of rice has increased from P39 per kilo in 2022 to P45 per kilo in 2025, while staple vegetables like carrots, eggplant, and potatoes have seen drastic price hikes.
The meat and fish prices have also soared, with pork now costing between P350 and P400 per kilo despite the Maximum Suggested Retail Price (MSRP.) Prices of chicken, galunggong, and eggs also remain high. Prices of basic necessities also zoomed last February, including canned sardines, salt and other condiments, condensed, evaporated, and powdered milk, coffee refill and 3-in-1, bread, instant noodles, luncheon meat, meatloaf, corned beef, beef loaf, bottled water, and even toilet soap, detergent and laundry soap, candles and batteries. These price surges have made it impossible for ordinary families to afford even the most basic meals.
“Nagtitiis na ang mga Pilipino sa pinakamurang pagkain, pero pati ito hindi na abot-kaya ng bulsa. Hindi na lang ito simpleng usapin ng taas-presyo, kundi ng patuloy na pag-abandona ng gobyerno sa lokal na agrikultura at sa mga nangangailangan,” Ramos said. Instead of strengthening local food production, the Marcos Jr. administration continues to push for food importation—an anti-farmer and anti-consumer policy that only worsens the crisis. KMP explained that food importation only benefits rice cartels, traders, and importers, while local farmers are buried in debt and forced to sell their produce at rock-bottom prices. The government’s refusal to implement meaningful agrarian and economic reforms is pushing millions of Filipinos deeper into hunger.
The 27.2% hunger rate represents a 6-point increase from February’s 21.2% and is 7 points higher than the 2024 annual average of 20.2%. Hunger incidents have increased across all regions except Metro Manila, with the Visayas seeing the biggest spike from 20.0% to 33.7%. Severe hunger, in which families experience hunger often or always, was recorded at 6.2%, while moderate hunger, in which families experience hunger once or a few times in the past three months, reached 21%. Balance Luzon’s hunger rate rose from 19.1% to 24.0%, while Mindanao’s increased from 23.3% to 27.3%. These figures expose the failure of the Marcos Jr. government to address the worsening food crisis and hunger. KMP is calling for urgent wage increases, agrarian reform, and direct government support for food producers to address the root causes of hunger. “Habang nagpapasasa sa yaman ang mga nasa kapangyarihan, milyon-milyong Pilipino ang ginugutom. Hindi importasyon ang solusyon kundi tunay na repormang agraryo at suporta sa lokal na produksyon. Dapat managot ang rehimeng Marcos Jr. sa lumalalang krisis ng gutom sa bansa,” Ramos concluded. (DIEGO MORRA)
