Press Release
November 9, 2007

MARIANNET'S DEATH, COMPELLING PROOF OF HUNGER - LOREN

Senator Loren Legarda expresses alarm over the compelling proof of hunger in the country in view of the death of an eleven-year old girl from Davao who committed suicide last November 2, 2007.

"The severe lack of jobs and income is the reason why an increasing number of borderline households are going hungry more often than before. Lacking gainful employment, many marginal families have absolutely no source of income whatsoever. Thus, they are likely to face hunger," Legarda pointed out.??

In 2003, 24.7% of Filipino families or 30.4% of Filipinos are considered poor. Poverty is essentially a rural phenomenon--- 3 out of 4 poor Filipinos or 75% reside in the rural areas. Poverty level in rural areas was much higher at 36.3% against 12.7%in urban areas in 2003.

The family of Mariannet Amper, whom at eleven years old had decided to take her own life lives in a far-flung barangay in Maa, Davao City.

The senator stressed that now more than ever the government needs to immediately alleviate poverty and hunger. The need for a national employment plan that would purposely encourage labor-intensive private investments and public projects this, apart from the need to consciously spur stronger agricultural growth, she said.??

"In deciding which specific projects should be backed by program funds, the single most important consideration should be jobs creation. This means that the projects that promise to create the most number of new jobs should get the highest priority support," Legarda said.

She said a robust farm sector would not only provide more income for growers and new jobs for rural workers, but also ensure abundant food supply." And ample food supply is the best way for us to guarantee more affordable consumer products," she added.

"If we look closer at the jobs picture, almost half of the unemployed and underemployed are farm workers in the countryside. Thus, government should focus on creating new job and livelihood opportunities in the rural districts --- in the agricultural sector," Legarda said.

The senator also cited the need for government to "advance" the execution of rural infrastructure projects, which create new jobs that tend to benefit mostly marginal families. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, at least 11 million Filipinos are among the 1 billion people across the globe living on less than $1 a day, the threshold defined as extreme poverty by the United Nations.

Among 119 developing countries in transition in 2003, the Philippines was ranked 72nd---the highest among the Southeast Asian nations included in the study.

The Philippines had a Global Hunger Index of 17.55, which indicates a "serious problem" in hunger.

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