Hunger among Filipino families eased slightly in March, with the number of households experiencing hunger decreasing by about 100,000, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.
The first quarter survey, conducted from March 28 to 31 among 1,440 respondents, found out that 9.5 percent or an estimated 2.3 million families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.
The measure of hunger refers to involuntary suffering since the survey question specifies that the hunger experienced was due to lack of food to eat.
The SWS said the latest hunger rate is one percentage point lower than the 10.5 percent (2.4 million families) in December 2018.
It also marks the second consecutive quarter where there has been a decrease in hunger from the one prior, the pollster pointed out.
The SWS attributed the lower hunger rate to the decline in the incidence of hunger in Metro Manila and Mindanao but slight increase in other areas. (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)