DSWD-7 backs call to hike budget to combat hunger

CEBU, Philippines —  Senator Risa Hontiveros has pushed for P1.36 billion increase in the Department of Social Welfare and Development budget to feed nearly two million children, amid record-high hunger incidence in the country.

Hontiveros said this is to allow the government to respond to a looming “hunger-crisis” in the country and will help feed at least 1.94 million children, aged three to five years old, who are mostly undernourished and impoverished.

“If we want to prevent an epidemic of malnutrition and stunted growth among young children, we have to empower the DSWD and provide the necessary budgetary increases for our nationwide feeding programs,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Sought for comments, DSWD-7 regional director Rebecca Gaemala said that hunger incidence in the Visayas rose from 27 percent to 40 percent from July to September in view of the pandemic.

This means, Geamala said that a number of children are either undernourished or malnourished.

Geamala added that with the request of legislators including Hontiveros, the increase of the budget for children’s sake will be able to increase the budget for food allocation and the support will be tangible.

“I believe it’s not only Senator Hontiveros who asked to increase it. The support will be tangible and DSWD will be able to serve the children,” said Geamala.

The P1.36 billion increase sought by the DSWD will be allocated to the government’s supplemental feeding program next year, a necessary support system for the neediest children.

Hontiveros said that the present version of the DSWD budget pending before Congress does not include the additional P1.36 billion for the supplemental feeding program, leading her to call on her colleagues “to help correct this situation and see to it that the government’s feeding programs get the funding they need.”

The senator said that just this August, UNICEF reported that a third of Filipino children in the country experience stunted growth and the country is among the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest number of stunted children.

She said with the difficult economic situation now, the number of Filipino children who are hungry, malnourished and suffering from stunted physical growth will rise dramatically if government fails to act soon.

“Hindi tayo dapat maging kuripot sa kalusugan ng ating kabataan, dahil kinabukasan ng bansa ang nakataya dito,” she said.

The senator’s appeal also comes as a Social Weather Stations report showed that about 7.6 million Filipino households have experienced “involuntary hunger” in the last three months - the highest hunger incidence recorded in the country since 2014.

“Sa mga darating na buwan, hindi lang COVID-19 ang matinding banta sa kalusugan ng kabataang Pinoy ngayon. Kailangan din natin agarang aksyunan ang malawakang pagkagutom na direktang nakakaapekto sa milyon-milyong tahanan sa buong bansa,” Hontiveros further said. — GMR (FREEMAN)