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A Malacañang official admitted Tuesday that the government still has to exert more efforts to improve the lives of Filipinos after a survey showed a slight increase in the hunger rate last year.

 

"Marami po tayong kailangan pa talagang gawin. This is a problem that cannot be solved overnight," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said at a press briefing.

 

"We recognize the fact that we need to continue pressing on these programs to make sure na nakakababa po 'yan doon sa mga tunay na nangangailangan," she added.

               

Valte said the administration continues to aggressively pursue programs to address the needs of vulnerable sectors by expanding the coverage of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) through a P39.5 billion budget.

 

"We are also continuing the implementation of the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Filipino Citizens, the Supplemental Feeding Program of the DSWD, and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS)," she said.

 

She further said the government is pursuing inter-agency convergence on the part of Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Department of Health, and Department of Interior and Local Government to ensure that household-beneficiaries avail of education and healthcare services.

 

"These are investments in human capital development that enable the people to take charge of their lives," she said.

 

The Social Weather Station survey found that those who claimed to have nothing to eat went up from 21.5 percent in September last year to 22.5 percent in December.

 

SWS said the one-point increase could indicate that some 4.5 million families experienced "involuntary hunger" in December, compared to 4.1 million families in September.

 

The survey was conducted from December 3 to 7 last year. It used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

 

Valte said the government will be taking advantage of the slight momentum as indicated in the quarter-to-quarter increase of gross domestic product for 2011. She noted that the GDP was at 3.1 in second quarter; 3.6 in third quarter and 3.7 in fourth quarter.    

 

She said the 5 to 6 percent target for 2012 for the GDP is a fighting target which the government will try to achieve.

 

"We will certainly be exerting our best efforts to meet the target," she said. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News