Malacañang on Saturday guaranteed that the government would double its efforts to address hunger incidence in the country.

This, after the Social Weather Stations (SWS), in its Dec. 12 to 16, 2021 survey, found that 11.8 percent of Filipino families or an estimated three million experienced “involuntary” hunger from October to December 2021 due to lack of food.

“We take note of the latest Social Weather Stations’ survey,” acting Presidential Spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a press statement. “This figure is lower compared to the 16 percent of families who had the same experience in the last quarter of 2020.”

According to the SWS survey, the number of Filipino households who experienced hunger in the past three months of 2021 was higher than the 10 percent or estimated 2.5 million families recorded in September 2021.

The latest hunger rate, however, is still lower compared to what was reported in May 2021 (16.8 percent) and June 2021 (13.6 percent), the SWS said.

“The 1.8-[percentage] point rise in Overall Hunger between September 2021 and December 2021 is due to increases in all areas, except in Balance Luzon,” it added.

The SWS reported the highest hunger incidence in Metro Manila, with 22.8 percent or 770,000 families in the country’s metropolis having no food to eat. The figure was higher than the 14 percent or 473,000 families in Metro Manila who suffered from hunger in the third quarter of 2021.

“It has been worst in Metro Manila in 22 out of 96 surveys since July 1998,” according to the SWS survey.

Following Metro Manila were Mindanao (12.2 percent or an estimated 703,000 families from 10.3 percent or an estimated 595,000 families), the Visayas (9.7 percent or an estimated 462,000 families from 6 percent or an estimated 285,000 families), and Balance Luzon (9.2 percent or an estimated 1 million families from 10.3 percent or an estimated 1.2 million families).

Still, the Palace viewed the latest hunger rate as a “clear indication of the positive impact of the programs of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Zero Hunger,” Andanar said.

Andanar, however, also acknowledged that the government still needs to work double-time to help Filipinos who are experiencing hunger.

“We have done much during this challenging time but we underscore that much more needs to be done to continuously address hunger and poverty,” he said.

The IATF on Zero Hunger, created by virtue of Executive Order 101 inked by Duterte in January 2020, is tasked to ensure that government policies, initiatives, and projects on attaining zero hunger will be “coordinated, responsive, and effective.”

Andanar cited that the task force’s initiatives include the creation of the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty; pilot feeding programs under the First 1000 Days of Life; launching of Pilipinas Kontra Gutom; formulation of the Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Project Proposal for the World Bank; Gulayan sa Barangay at sa Pamayanan programs; and various livelihood projects aimed at uplifting the lives of farmers and fisherfolk.

The overall hunger rate, the SWS said, is the sum of 9.2 percent or an estimated 2.3 million families who experienced “moderate” hunger and 2.6 percent or an estimated 657,000 families who experienced “severe” hunger.

The SWS interviewed 1,440 adult Filipinos using sampling error margins of ±2.6 percentage points for national percentages and ±5.2 percentage points for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. (PNA)