Hunger mitigation urged
A neophyte solon has reiterated his call for the government to focus on interventions to curb food inflation, after a survey revealed more Filipino families had experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.
AGRI Party-list Representative Wilbert T. Lee said hunger is still a problem to many Filipinos because of the higher prices of basic commodities.
“Patuloy mang bumababa ang inflation rate natin, hindi ito mararamdaman ng ordinaryong mamamayan hangga’t di natin gagawing mas abot-kaya ang presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin lalong-lalo na sa pagkain at inumin, partikular na sa bigas at gulay,” Lee said.
The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed 10.4 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, up from the previous 9.8 percent in March. SWS defines involuntary hunger as being hungry and not having anything to eat.
SWS said the 10.4 percent hunger rate in June 2023 was the sum of 2.1 percent who experienced severe hunger and 8.3 percent who experienced moderate hunger.
Lee earlier said the government must aggressively address factors contributing to food inflation or it will be unable to hit its 2.9 percent inflation target in 2024.
The lawmaker noted that food and non-alcoholic beverages were the biggest contributors to the 5.4 percent inflation rate in June.
