Prelate urges gov’t to feed the poor as hungry families reach some 7.6 M

An official of Caritas Manila has urged the government to provide food to the poor especially during this quarantine.

Caritas Manila executive director Father Anton Pascual issued the call after a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that the proportion of families experiencing involuntary hunger due to lack of food to eat at least once in the past three months reached a new record-high of 30.7 percent, or an estimated 7.6 million households.

“That’s alarming and socially volatile. In third world countries during a pandemic, that’s a double whammy of health and economic dilemma,” he said Monday, September 28.

“The government has to provide food provision to the poor during the quarantine or the situation will be dangerous as people become hungry and their children malnourished,” added Pascual.

He said the poorest of the poor are actually “more afraid of hunger than the virus.”

But Pascual said it is not only the government that should help but all sectors.

“All sectors must converge ASAP in the name of justice and extend help,” he said.

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace, said the church will continue to assist the people especially during this time.

“As in the past, we continue to journey with our people especially those in the margins through our social action center in order to at least lessen as much as we can the impact of this global health crisis,” he said.

“We can continue our Kindness Station and Kindness Store and strengthen the spirit of cooperativism,” added Alminaza.

The prelate renewed his call to the public to “tighten our belts so we can care for the poor and our common home.”