Malacañang has attributed the recent increase in the country’s hunger rate to a series of natural disasters that have affected the Philippines in recent months. "Let’s not forget that our fellow Filipinos have recently experienced successive calamities, which have affected the government’s ongoing efforts, especially those of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), to reduce the country’s hunger rate," said Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro. She added that the spike in hunger is likely due to the successive nature of the calamities, noting that the country has been facing not a single event, but multiple disasters occurring in sequence. The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, released on November 5, showed that about 22 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, going without food at least once in the past three months. This marks an increase of 5.9 points from 16.1 percent in June, reversing the previous downward trend from 27.2 percent in March to 19.1 percent in mid-April and 20 percent in late April. Castro emphasized that the survey results will still be useful as they are cross-checked with government-collected data to ensure accurate monitoring of hunger in the country.
