MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipinos went hungry in the last quarter of 2012, with an estimated one million households no longer having experienced lacking anything to eat, according to the latest survey of Social Weather Stations.

The latest survey, conducted last December 8-11 and published by BusinessWorld newspaper, found 6.3% of the respondents -- equivalent to 3.3 million families -- claiming to have gone hungry in the last three months.

This is fewer than the 21%, or 4.3 million households, that experienced hunger in the third quarter, according to a survey last August.

SWS said the new hunger rate is the lowest since June 2011 when it reached 15.1% or 3 million families. It is a marked improvement from the record 23.8% hunger rate in March 2012.

SWS said the improved rate was due to a better score for moderate hunger -- having had nothing to eat “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months -- even as severe hunger -- “often” or “always” going hungry -- marginally rose.
Improvements were noted in all geographical areas, although overall hunger as of December was still above the 14-year average of 14.5%.

The SWS polled 1,200 adults nationwide using face-to-face interviews. The error margins used were +/-3% for national and +/-6% for area percentages.

CCT program not helping, says Kadamay

Militant group Kadamay, meanwhile, scored the Aquino administration for attributing the decline in hunger incidence to the conditional cash transfer program.

Kadamay national chairperson Gloria Arellano said the overall hunger in the last quarter of 2012 as in the past years under the Aquino administration was still higher that the 14-year average hunger incidence.

"What Malacanang never mentioned is that the last quarter of the year,as always, includes the longest holiday season in the world where most Filipinos spent most of their hard-labored savings. This is a more acceptable reason why fewer Filipinos went hungry," said Arellano.

The SWS survey showed moderate hunger in the Philippines eased to 12.7% or 2.6 million families in December, from 18% or 3.7 million families last August.

The figure is higher than the 11-year average of 11%.

Severe hunger, meanwhile, slightly increased to 3.6% or 731,000 families, from 3% or 611,000 families in August. The figure is similar to the 14-year average of 3.5%. With a report from BusinessWorld