7.6 million Filipino families went hungry amid COVID-19 crisis

7.6 million (or 30.7% of all) Filipino households have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months, according to a poll released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) this September. The figure is a 2.4 million increase from June. Twenty-two percent or roughly 5.5 million families have experienced moderate hunger (at least once in the last three months), while 2.2 million experienced severe hunger (they went hungry often) [this hunger level is 10% greater than the June report, see 20% of Filipinos go hungry amid COVID].

SWS said that the hunger trend has been “rising since May 2020, upsetting a previous favorable trend when hunger steadily declined from 23.8% in March 2012 to 9.3% in December”.

Editor’s Note: The Philippines’ continued lockdown has taken away the capacity of millions of Filipino workers to provide for their families. It has reversed all the benefits created by eight (8) years of economic planning.

With the country owing various institutions trillions of debt, all borrowed in the name of COVID-19 response, why is hunger continuing to increase? What are the new programs installed by the government to combat this undesirable trend? Where is the government spending these funds? Will the government have enough money to address all the social and economic issues brought by the extended lockdowns? Where are the concrete plans for transitioning out of this oppressive situation [Prof. Mark Woolhouse says that waiting for a vaccine should not be the long term solution for COVID-19, see Mark Woolhouse: We must follow the Swedish model].

The longer our governments try to control us, the more difficult it becomes, both for the authorities, and for us citizens. The concern is that those who were already marginalized before the COVID-19 outbreak are even more disadvantaged now. Are we going to allow this injustice to continue when we know that there is a way out of this crisis? [See Hydroxychloroquine can dramatically ease the COVID-19 crisis, Top German virologist says we can beat coronavirus without lockdowns, Filipino doctors: Lift all lockdowns and allow our people to begin to rebuild their lives].