Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS.
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7900

Introduced by: REP. RAUL V. DEL MAR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

‘The United Nations Hunger Report of 2020 uses the term ‘hunger’ to
define periods when populations are experiencing food insecurity, meaning
“they go for entire days without eating due to lack of money, lack of access to
food or other resources.”

In the Philippines, about a third of the population experiences hunger,
more acutely because of the corona-virus pandemic, but even during “normal”
times.

The health crisis such as the Covid-19 plague -- or some disaster like
typhoon, earthquake or flooding -- intensifies the pangs because the small
opportunity for some income is taken away when quarantine and lockdown
are imposed. Absence of a calamity or end of an epidemic or disaster does
not remove the poverty and the hunger. And worrying over where one’s
family’s meal will come from is among the worst forms of torture that can be
inflicted on a person.

Level of hunger

The record-high hunger rate is at its all-time high at 30.7% rate per the
Social Weather Stations (SWS) September 17-20 survey. The estimated total
number of the hungry is 7.6 million families, correctly rounded. That is more
than 20 times the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the country: from
the start of pandemic up to September 30 -- 311,694 cases per the
Department of Health (DOH).

The estimated number of families in severe hunger (those who
experienced hunger often or always for the last three months) is 2.2 million
and the estimated number of families in moderate hunger (those who
experienced hunger once or a few times in the last three months) is 5.5.
million.


There must be people in the country who are so hungry that, as
Mahatma Gandhi put it, “God cannot appear to them except in the form of a
bread.”

Monthly cash subsidy

This Bill proposes a monthly cash subsidy to the families in severe
hunger, defined for the purpose as families suffering from severe hunger
often or always. They are families that have no steady income for the daily
food on the table, always hounded by the prospect whether they would have
anything to eat today or the next day. They are literally starving and
malnourished and sick, or on the verge of illness or death.

The monthly cash subsidy will be in the amount of P6,588 per family,
which is the average amount of monthly help received from the government.
This amount is hardly enough to survive on, considering that the amount of
P6,588 monthly, divided by 30 days, is P219.60 daily and divided by 3
meals a day is P73.20 and further divided among 5 members of the family is
only P14.64 per meal per family member.

This measure will provide the amount of One Hundred Seventy-Three
Billion Nine Hundred Twenty-Three Million Two Hundred Thousand Pesos
(P173,923,200,000.00) for the year or Fourteen Million Four Hundred
Ninety-Three Thousand Six Hundred Pesos (P14,493,600.00) monthly to the
2.2 million families in severe hunger.

Provision for the future

The ultimate goal is to also include the 5.5 million
families /households in moderate hunger. But that will need an additional
Four Hundred Thirty-Four Billion Eight Hundred Eight Million Pesos
(P434,808,000,000.00), which at present is not feasible because of financial
constraints.

However, there is a provision in the measure to include them in the
future when funds are available as certified by the Secretary of the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM), without the need of
amendment through another legislative measure.

‘The reasons why

‘There is a compelling need for the Government to help its citizens who
are hungry:

[1] It is the right thing to do, whatever may be the culprit: virulent
disease, disaster, or plain poverty.


[2] People are the country’s valuable resources, which it must protect
as steadily and strongly as possible.

[3] It can help dissuade people from turning to criminal means to
secure food. Pearl Buck says “hunger makes a thief of every man.” Hungry
people will not reach for a book but will hold a gun.

[4] There are funds that are otherwise lost in waste or corruption; it
can never be said the state does not have money to help hapless citizens.

[5] Spending money to alleviate hunger will reduce the spending of
money in public health care. Food is basic to good health, resistance to
disease, and living.

Approval of this measure is earnestly requested.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL no,/900

Introduced by REP. RAUL V. DEL MAR

AN ACT
SAVING FAMILIES IN SEVERE HUNGER, AND PROVIDING FUNDS
THEREFOR

Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Saving
Families in Severe Hungry Act of 2020”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the state
to promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and
independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies
that provide adequate social service, promote full employment, a rising
standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all. In addition, the 1987
Constitution also provides that No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal
protection of laws.

SEC. 3, Scope and Coverage. ~ The institutionalization of the Severely
Hungry Family Subsidy Act will be on a monthly subsidy in the amount of


P6,588 which is the national average amount. That this subsidy will continue
even after the pandemic period as the necessity for the same continue to exist.

SEC. 4. Beneficiaries. — Families in Severe Hunger with a maximum
of five (5) members whose total combined income does not exceed P6,588.00
monthly or has no income nor subsequently rises above shall be automatically
be listed as beneficiaries of Subsidy Assistance.

SEC. 4b. Eligibility. — To establish eligibility to the Families in Severe
Hunger Subsidy Assistance, it is deemed proper that the country should have
a credible database of families viz-a-viz the families’ level of income. Th
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should establish the
Severely Hungry Family Database by enhancing the DSWD Listahanan to
reflect the economic profiles of each Filipino family. The database should be
regularly updated by the DSWD every year.

SEC. 5. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the
initial implementation of this Act shall One Hundred Billion Pesos
(P100,000,000,000.00) to be included in the budget of DSWD. Thereafter,
such sums as may be necessary for the continuous implementation of this
Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) of
DSWD following the year of its approval.

SEC. 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). - To ensure
compliance, the DSWD and the Department of Budget and Management
(DBM), in consultation with the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and Committee on Finance of the Senate, shall promulgate
rules and regulations to carry out the provision of this Act within six (6)
months of its effectivity.

SEC. 7. Separability Clause. - |i, for any reasons, any section or
provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections
or provisions which are not affected shall continue to be in full force and effect.


SEC. 8. Effectivity. — This Act shall take after fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,