The government is going to find out areas of involuntary hunger hotspots so the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will implement its programs.

"So, let's study where these claims that some of our countrymen are still hungry come from and so that we can know where this is and if there are any shortcomings [in the implementation of anti-hunger measures], we can alleviate these types of situations," Palace Press Officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press briefing last Monday.

Last Friday, a survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) showed that families, who experienced involuntary hunger or those who did not have enough food at least once in the past three months--rose to 27.2 percent in March, the highest since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

This came as the government reported that inflation in February declined to 2.1 percent from 2.9 percent in January.

Castro said DSWD has several programs to address involuntary hunger, including its Pantawid Gutom program where qualified families are given P3,000 worth of food monthly.

She said the program benefitted 300,000 food-poor families, which is equivalent to 1.5 million individuals nationwide.

The agency also has a kitchen serving free hot meals to the homeless in Pasay City, said Castro. DMS