Filipinos living on edge of poverty badly affected by rising food costs

Channel NewsAsia 1 Apr 08;

MANILA: Soaring food prices are affecting millions of Filipinos, especially those living on the edge of poverty.

There are fears that if the Philippine government cannot control the rising costs of rice and other food commodities, more Filipinos will go hungry.

Like many Filipino families, the Luangco family is used to eating rice three times a day.

But with the price of rice hitting its highest level in three decades, this family of five has reduced their consumption of the main staple to just lunch and dinner.

Filipino households spend 70 percent of their income on food. Poor Filipino families now have to worry about budgeting with rising prices of rice and other food stuff as most of them earn a meagre salary of US$8 per day.

Cris Luangco said: "It's hard to make ends meet and to earn enough to buy food. There's a big increase in the price of rice and other food. We're the ones feeling the pinch in our daily budgets."

The United Nations World Food Program warns that more Filipinos could go hungry this year as the market price of rice soars out of reach of ordinary households.

Most affected in the current rice crisis are households in war-torn Mindanao Island where some of the country's poorest provinces are located.

The international agency now provides food to about 1.1 million Filipinos in Mindanao.

Valerie Guarnieri, Country Director-Philippines, UN World Food Programme, said: "Because the price has increased so much in each of the countries, more people are unable to meet their food needs. Food represents the largest share in household expenditure. Any change in food price hits poor consumer directly in the pocket and prices have gone up so high.

"People who were previously just able to meet their food requirements through the market are now unable to buy enough food for their family."

Government data last year showed that more than ten million Filipinos experienced hunger because they were unable to buy enough food.- CNA/so