Alarmed with the rising hunger incidence in the country, Sen. Edgardo J. Angara has reiterated the need to adopt and implement aggressive measures to combat hunger and reduce malnutrition.

According to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, involuntary hunger has reached record numbers, with almost one in four Filipino households going hungry in the past three months. The survey, conducted from Dec. 5 to 10, 2009 also found indications that poor families have been lowering their standard of living.

percent or about 665,000 families); eight points in the Visayas (27.9 percent,Compared to the results of a similar survey in October, overall hunger rose 11 points in Metro Manila (27 or about 1 million families); six points in Mindanao (24.5 percent, or about 1 million families); and two points in the rest of Luzon (21.2 percent, or about 1.7 million families).

The glaring statistics, according to the former Agriculture Secretary, only shows the urgency to prioritize hunger mitigation programs which target the country’s absolute poor, those who have no means to buy food.

He cited what Indian economist Amartya Sen stated that hunger is rooted in the differences in wealth and power among populations, which affect their access to limited resources.