By Gabriela Baron
The number of Filipinos who experienced hunger dropped to 2.9 million in the second quarter from 3.1 million in the first quarter, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
Filipino families who faced involuntary hunger went down to 11.6% in the April to June period from the 12.2% recorded in the January to March period.
SWS said the 0.6-point decrease in overall hunger is due to declines in Metro Manila and Visayas.
The incidence of hunger fell to 14.7% (estimated 501,000 families) in Metro Manila from 18.6% (estimated 636,000 families), while it likewise fell in Visayas to 5.7% (272,000 families) from 7.8% (370,000).
However, the incidence of hunger slightly rose in Mindanao and in Balance Luzon.
In Mindanao, it went up from 13.1% (estimated 761,000 families) to 14% (estimated 816,000 families), from 11.7% (estimated 1.3 million families) to 11.9% (estimated 1.4 million families) in Balance Luzon.
Meanwhile, there were an estimated 2.4 million Filipino families who experienced moderate hunger and roughly 546,000 Filipino families who suffered from severe hunger, according to the same survey.
The study was conducted from June 26 to 29 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults.
