Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas on Sunday called for urgent economic relief measures in response to the alarming rise in hunger rates across the Philippines, disproportionately affecting women and children in poor households.
“The shocking 27.2% hunger rate revealed by the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey represents millions of Filipino families, particularly women and children, going to bed hungry,” said Brosas in a statement.
She was referring to the latest SWS report commissioned by Stratbase Group, showing that the latest hunger rate was higher than the 25.9% recorded in December 2024. It was the highest since the 30.7% recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020.
“This is the direct result of the government’s continued implementation of anti-poor economic policies in the midst of a worsening crisis,” according to the Gabriela representative.
Brosas emphasized that women bear the brunt of economic hardship as they struggle to feed their families amid rising food prices and stagnant wages.
She highlighted the direct link between hunger and child malnutrition, noting that the Philippines continues to have one of the highest rates of stunting in the Southeast Asian region.
“Hunger today means stunted future for our children. The rising hunger rate will inevitably worsen our already critical child malnutrition problem, with long-term consequences for the nation’s health and productivity,” the lawmaker noted.
Gabriela urged the government to immediately implement concrete measures to address the hunger crisis, including the scrapping of the value-added tax on essential food items and raising the national minimum wage to P1,200.
“The continuous rise in hunger rates from January to March shows that the so-called economic growth is just a half-baked promise. While the administration boasts of macroeconomic gains, Filipino families are being left to scrape the bottom of the barrel. This is the clearest indictment of the government’s failed economic policies,” she said.