Palace cites natural calamities as key factor in rising hunger rates

Malacañang on Thursday attributed the recent increase in involuntary hunger to the series of natural disasters that hit the country.

At a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro was asked for comment on the Social Weather Stations' finding that the number of Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger increased over the past three months to 22%.

''Huwag po natin kalimutan na sunud-sunod ang kalamidad na naranasan ng mga kababayan po natin – nakaapekto po ito sa patuloy po na pagtatrabaho ng ating pamahalaan lalung-lalo na po ang DSWD para po maipababa ang hunger rate ng bansa,'' Castro said. 

(Let's not forget that a series of calamities hit our countrymen, and this affects the continuous work of the government, especially the DSWD, to alleviate the hunger rate in the country.)

''Kaya po siguro naranasan natin ito because of the calamities na sunod-sunod, hindi po isa eh sunod-sunod po iyong nararanasan natin,'' she added. 

(We're experiencing this because of the series of calamities that are happening; it's not just one but many calamities.) 

According to Castro, the government is exhausting all measures to implement programs that will address hunger in the country. She said the figures would help the administration in eradicating hunger.

The SWS defined involuntary hunger as being hungry and not having anything to eat.

Conducted from September 24 to 30, 2025, the survey found that hunger during this month was 5.9 points higher than 16.1% in June 2025 and 20% up from April 23 to 28, 2025.

The SWS said the 20.2% average in 2025 was the same as in 2024 and 0.9 points below the record-high 21.1% average in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The highest hunger percentage was recorded in Metro Manila with 25.7%, followed by Balance Luzon at 23.8%, Mindanao at 19.7%, and the Visayas at 18.7%.

The September 2025 survey also found that 41% of Filipino families rated themselves as food-poor, 11% consider themselves food-borderline, and 47% view themselves as not food-poor.

The SWS survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,500 Filipino adults.

It has a sampling error margin of ±3% for national percentages, ±4% for Balance Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. –NB, GMA Integrated News