ABOUT 27.2 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger in the last three months, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released over the weekend.
The number of families who did not have anything to eat at least once “was 6.0 points above the 21.2 percent in February 2025, and the highest since the record high 30.7 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020,” the pollster noted.
The March figure was 7 points above the last year’s hunger average of 20.2 percent, SWS added.
It said families in Visayas were the hardest hit by hunger at 33.7 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 28.3 percent, Mindanao at 27.3 percent, and the rest of Luzon at 24 percent.
Some 21 percent of families faced moderate hunger, which meant they experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months. Meanwhile, 6.2 percent experienced severe hunger, which meant they felt it “often” or “always”.
The March 15-20 survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,800 registered voters. It had sampling error margins of ±2.31 percent for national percentages. (ABS-CBN News)
