HUNGER: A FORM OF STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE DURING

THE COVID - 19
PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES

( T E M P L A T E )

GROUP 3 – CASE STUDY

 Since the pandemic began, 7.3 million Filipinos have
become jobless. The Department of Social Welfare and
Development has since identified around 21 million low-income
Filipino families to be in urgent need of monetary and food
assistance from the government during this pandemic
 MALNUTRITION

EFFECTS OF Each day, around 95 children in our country die

from malnutrition, the United Nations Children’s
HUNGER Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said. With such a disturbing
death toll, it can even be said that malnutrition is worse
IN THE than the coronavirus pandemic! Malnutrition
PHILIPPINES encompasses all forms of poor nutrition, whether it be
excess consumption of nutrients (overnutrition) usually
DURING THE afflicting the obese, or inadequate consumption of
PANDEMIC nutrients (undernutrition) that leads to wasting and
stunting – common among those suffering from
extreme and prolonged hunger.
 MALNUTRITION

EFFECTS OF The pandemic has worsened the plight of

malnourished Filipino children.“ The COVID-19
HUNGER pandemic and the Enhanced Community Quarantine did
IN THE not only create a situation that posed challenges to the
nutrition programs for severely malnourished children
PHILIPPINES as operations of health centers have been
DURING THE disrupted, worse, it has resulted to the inability of
families to meet their basic food requirements due to
PANDEMIC income losses,” lamented Dr. Amado Parawan, Health
and Nutrition Advisor of Save the Children Philippines.
 MALNUTRITION

EFFECTS OF
HUNGER
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
DURING THE DATAS:
The Philippines is among those with highest wasting and
PANDEMIC stunting prevalence, according to the Global Nutrition Report in
2016. Of a total of 130 countries ranked lowest to highest on
wasting prevalence, the Philippines was ranked 93rd at 7.9 %
prevalence. On stunting, the Philippines has 30.3 % prevalence and
at 88th spot out of 132 countries also ranked lowest to highest.
 MALNUTRITION

EFFECTS OF
HUNGER
While self-reported, the July 3-6, 2020 National Mobile Survey
of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) illustrates the intensity of
IN THE hunger in the country. The results indicate that 20.9%, an estimated
5.2 million Filipino families, or roughly 30 million Filipinos, mostly
PHILIPPINES children, reported experiencing involuntary hunger due to lack of

DURING THE food to eat at least once in the past 3 months. The July 2020 figure
was up by 4.2 points from 16.7% in May 2020, and by 12.1 points
PANDEMIC from 8.8% in December 2019.
 INFANT AND CHILD
MORTALITY

EFFECTS OF
Poor nutrition and hunger is responsible for the death of 3.1
million children a year. That’s nearly half of all deaths in children
HUNGER under the age of 5. The children die because their bodies lack basic
nutrients.
IN THE Globally, 822 million people suffer from undernourishment.
PHILIPPINES
DURING THE
PANDEMIC
 INFANT AND CHILD
MORTALITY

DATA:
EFFECTS OF Every day, 95 children in the Philippines
HUNGER die from malnutrition. Twenty-seven out of

IN THE
1,000 Filipino children do not get past their
fifth birthday. A third of Filipino children
PHILIPPINES are stunted, or short for their age. Stunting
after 2 years of age can be permanent,
DURING THE irreversible and even fatal.

PANDEMIC
 INFANT AND CHILD
ADULTMORTALITY
MORTALITY RATE

EFFECTS OF DATAS:
HUNGER In 2020, adult mortality rate for Philippines was 37.17

IN THE
deaths per 100 population. Adult mortality
rate of Philippines increased from 22.12 deaths per 100
PHILIPPINES population in 1975 to 37.17 deaths per 100 population in
2020 growing at an average annual rate of 6.03%.
DURING THE
PANDEMIC
 Long quarantine drives
Filipinos into hunger
CAUSES OF
Strict quarantine rules left millions more Filipinos hungry,
poor, and jobless, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said as
he defended plans to restart the economy. Chua's projections
HUNGER
IN THE
showed that the economic shutdown had driven an additional
23.7 million people into hunger and 4.5 million more into poverty.
An additional 2.3 million Filipinos also lost their jobs due to strict
quarantine measures, which were gradually eased starting May. PHILIPPINES
DURING THE
PANDEMIC
Source:https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/10/15/longer-quarantine-more-Filipinos-hungry-poor-jobless.html
 Soaring food prices hit
Philippine consumers amid
recession
CAUSES OF
“The sellers couldn’t find supplies that they can sell at
prices set by the executive order,” said Hector Salonga, vice
HUNGER
president of the market’s stall owners association. Last week,
the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that inflation in IN THE
January quickened to 4.2% year-on-year, the highest in 24
months. The figure breached the central bank target and PHILIPPINES
marked the fourth straight month of acceleration. The
upswing in prices has hammered the pockets of consumers
already tightening their belts due to the economic downturn,
DURING THE
which has worsened unemployment and hunger.
PANDEMIC
 Soaring food prices hit
Philippine consumers amid
recession
CAUSES OF
➢ The poor have suffered worse, with inflation in the poorest
30% of households accelerating faster at 4.9% in January, HUNGER
according to the statistics agency.
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
DURING THE
PANDEMIC
Source: https://manilanews.ph/soaring-food-prices-hit-philippine-consumers-amid-recession/
 Problem of
Agricultural Sector
CAUSES OF
Most of those in the agriculture sector, which employs HUNGER
about a quarter of the country’s population, are struggling.
Filipino farm workers are struggling after a year of lockdowns
and disasters decimated crops and income. And their pain has
IN THE
been passed on to consumers in the form of soaring food prices
and rising hunger. Several places, particularly those with periods
PHILIPPINES
DURING THE
of peak seasonal labor demand or labor-intensive industries, are
experiencing labor shortages due to restrictions on people's
migration across borders and lockdowns.
PANDEMIC
 Problem of
Agricultural Sector
CAUSES OF
HUNGER
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
DURING THE
PANDEMIC
 Government actions to provide
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE emergency social protection

The government has taken aggressive steps to help households cope with the
effects of the COVID-19 crisis. In April, the government launched an emergency
subsidy program, the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), which provides a one-time
(or, in some areas, two-time) payment between PHP5, 000 and PHP8,000 (with the
amount dependent on the local minimum wage) targeting 18 million households,
making the Philippines one of the first countries without a comprehensive national
ID system to deliver an emergency cash transfer in response to COVID-19. Eligibility
for SAP was determined through the use of a paper-based application (the Social
Amelioration Card) and a grievance mechanism was established to receive and
handle complaints.
 Government actions to provide
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE emergency social protection

The central government, through local government units (LGUs), also distributed in-
kind relief consisting of food and non-food items and provided 10 to 30 days employment to
approximately 800,000 displaced workers. The government also waived all program
conditions for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program (4Ps), the flagship conditional cash
transfer program, for six months.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE DSWD pledges continued
support to anti-hunger efforts

As one of the member agencies of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger
(IATF-ZH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will continue to
support the government’s whole-of-nation approach in eradicating hunger and other
related issues through the provision of social protection programs that will provide safety-
nets for poor and vulnerable sectors.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE DSWD pledges continued
support to anti-hunger efforts

In addition, the Department also implements the

Sustainable Livelihood Program, the Supplementary Feeding
Program for day care children, and the provision of P600 monthly
rice subsidy for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries
to ensure resiliency for food supplies, and secure nutrition
adequacy and prevent malnutrition for vulnerable populations.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE Bayan Bayanihan

Bayan Bayanihan a food program launched by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
in partnership with the Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) and the private sector, in coordination with the Philippine
Army.
Bayan Bayanihan, based on the traditional Filipino Bayanihan principle of
community spirit, was funded through a $5 million technical assistance under
the Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision project approved by ADB on 26 March
2020. The project addresses the health crisis caused by COVID-19 by delivering
critical food supplies to as many as 140,000 vulnerable households in Metro
Manila and neighboring provinces. Target beneficiaries are the poor and
marginalized, including people with disabilities and the elderly, as well as daily
wage earners in the informal labor market.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE Bayan Bayanihan
NON - GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
NGO Delivers Meals to Millions of Hungry Filipinos
During the COVID-19 Hunger Crisis

International Care Ministries (ICM), a Filipino NGO, has delivered over 14 million
meals to at-risk families in the Visayas and Mindanao, reaching more than 3% of the
Filipino population during the community quarantine.
For aid distribution throughout the quarantine, ICM has been working closely with
national, provincial, and local governments. ICM's CEO, David Sutherland, said "We've
been impressed. Many agencies of the Philippine government have been acting heroically
to help the poor. But in a country of more than 100 million people on 7,000+ islands, gaps
are inevitable. That is where ICM comes in."
NON - GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
NGO Delivers Meals to Millions of Hungry Filipinos
During the COVID-19 Hunger Crisis

ICM partners with 10,000+ pastors

across the Visayas and much of Mindanao.
They help ICM identify families in the greatest
need. Through these key partnerships over the
last three months, ICM has distributed meals
and health supplies to 3.4 million Filipinos.
Companies' support
Jonah Pernia, Coca-cola PH public affairs
director, pledged to provide 100,000
bottled waters to go with the meals.
Meanwhile, Banjo Castillo, DOLE-PH general
manager, vowed to pursue providing
nutritious food to Filipino families as part of
the Pilipinas Kontra Gutom initiative.
Raghu Krishnan, J&J PH managing
director/president, committed to support
3,000 infant kids and provide nutritional
packages as well as hygiene products for
them.
Kenneth Yang, McDonald's PH
president/CEO, vowed to continue
providing 100,000 meals to Filipinos.
Yang invited the public to join their cause
by visiting rmhc.org.ph for contribution
and other donations.
Digs Dimagiba, Metrobank chief
marketing officer, pledged to provide
meaningful banking to the Filipino
people to sustain their needs during
calamities.
The Metrobank Foundation has been
providing financial assistance and other
funding efforts amid the pandemic, in
partnership with the government and
other private companies.
(PNA) Retrieved from:
(https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1121397)
References:
Lina, J. (2020, July 27). Malnutrition in the Philippines is worse than pandemic. Retrieved from Joey:
https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/27/malnutrition-in-the-philippines-is-worse-than-pandemic/
Reyna, J. (2014). Child Survival, Helping children survive and thrive. Retrieved from Joey:
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/child-survival
Unicef Philippines. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Households in the National Capital
Region of the Philippines. Retrieved from Unicef:
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/media/2061/file/Finalreport:TheImpactoftheCOVID-
19CrisisonHouseholdsintheNationalCapitalRegionofthePhilippines.pdf
Government Philippines. (2021, July 19). DSWD pledges continued support anti hunger efforts.
Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/dswd-pledges-continued-
support-anti-hunger-efforts
Asian Development Bank. (2020, May 4). For poor Filipinos during the pandemic, Bayan Bayanihan
brings food and hope. Retrieved from: https://www.adb.org/news/features/hungry-
filipinos-during-pandemic-bayan-bayanihan-brings-food-and-hope
International Care Ministries. (2020, August 31). NGO Delivers Meals to Millions of Hungry Filipinos During the
COVID-19 Hunger Crisis. Retrieved from: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ngo-delivers-
meals-to-millions-of-hungry- filipinos-during-the-covid-19-hunger-crisis-301120538.html
 Members:

DALOGDOG, CATHEREN B.

CAVAN, JOHN PAUL M.

T H A N K
SABADUQUIA, MICHAEL M.
Y O U
PAYOT, JUSTINE G.

GABE, PRINCESS M.

DIDA-AGUN, NOAIM M.