The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ramping up its efforts to address hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines, with a strong focus on collaboration with other sectors.

DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said Thursday the agency, as the lead of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, is “fully committed” to tackling the issue of hunger.

She highlighted the DSWD’s ongoing efforts to harmonize and align the various programs and services of national government agencies.

The DSWD official added that the agency aims to partner with other sectors to develop sustainable solutions to ultimately address hunger and malnutrition.

“Kung kaya nga po tinitiyak ng DSWD na nagha-harmonize, nag-a-align iyong iba’t ibang mga programa at serbisyo ng (The DSWD is ensuring there is harmony and alignment of the different programs and service of) national government agencies and that we’ll continue to partner with the partner sectors so that we could collectively come up with sustainable solutions that would ultimately address the problem on hunger and malnutrition,” Dumlao said during a press briefing in Malacañang.

Recently, a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted on March 15 to 20 showed that 27.2 percent of Filipino families nationwide, or about 7.5 million households, experienced involuntary hunger, at least once in the past three months.

This is the highest recorded instance since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in September 2020 when it was at 30.7 percent. It is also 7 percentage points above the 2024 annual hunger average of 20.2 percent.

The DSWD responded by acknowledging the complexity of the issue and the factors contributing to hunger and malnutrition.

Dumlao pointed to regional challenges, such as the ongoing impact of the Kanlaon eruption in the Visayas, as contributing factors to the rise in hunger incidents in that area.

In response to these challenges, Dumlao emphasized that the DSWD is scaling up its programs, including the Walang Gutom Program and Walang Gutom Kitchen, to ensure that those affected by disasters and hunger have access to essential food assistance.

Meanwhile, Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara shared that the government’s school-based feeding program has seen a significant increase under the Marcos’ administration, from PHP3 billion to PHP11.7 billion, reflecting a 350-percent increase in funding. (PNA)