Hunger - One in five, or 3.8 million Filipino families

SWS: Hunger hits record high, afflicts 3.8M Pinoy families

Hunger hit a new record peak nationwide as one in five, or 3.8 million Filipino families, had experienced having nothing to eat in September 2007. This was the result of the latest survey of the creditable pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS), where the national percentage of families having experienced nothing to eat rose to a high of 21.5 percent.

SWS, which published on Monday the results on BusinessWorld (http://www.bworld.com.ph/), said this was a “dramatic" reversal of gains in June where hunger fell to 14.7% from 19% in February 2007 and November 2006. It added the 21.5% was almost 10 points above the 11.8% average for the 38 hunger surveys it had conducted quarterly starting mid-1998. This was despite government’s implementation of anti-hunger programs like the food-for-school program and the Gulayan ng Bayan to encourage backyard farming.

Earlier, President Arroyo claimed she herself experienced hunger, but was told that the hunger in the SWS surveys refer to involuntary hunger.

More Filipinos feel their lives are worse now than 3 years ago, survey says

MANILA (AP) 04/12 8:10:27 PM - The number of Filipinos who feel they are worse off now than they were three years ago is rising, despite the government's claims that the economy has improved, a survey showed Thursday.

The April 3-5 survey by independent pollster Pulse Asia showed 54 percent of respondents claimed they are worse off now than they were three years ago, up from 46 percent in April 2004.

"It appears that the reported gains from the economic reforms put in place by the Arroyo administration are not yet being felt by most Filipinos," Pulse Asia said.

Only 11 percent of the 1,800 adults surveyed said their quality of life is better, down from 16 percent three years ago. The number of people who felt the quality of their lives remained the same from three years ago also slid to 35 percent from 38 percent in 2004, Pulse Asia said. The survey, which comes ahead of May's midterm elections, had a 2.3 percentage points error margin.

A fish now or how to fish?

DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo ChancoThe Philippine Star 03/28/2007

A Social Weather Stations survey earlier revealed that at least one in five Filipino households or a total of 3.4 million households experienced starvation at least once in the past three months. Hunger went up by three points in Metro Manila, from 17.7 percent in November last year to 20.7 percent in February 2007. It rose slightly in the rest of Luzon from 17.7 percent to 18.3 percent, and hardly changed in Mindanao, from 22.3 percent in the previous quarter to 22.7 percent. Hunger declined by nearly four points in Visayas, from 19 percent in November to 15.3 percent in February.