MORE Filipino families considered themselves poor and experienced hunger in the second quarter of 2026 despite a decline in the number who considered themselves food-poor, the latest Tugon ng Masa survey by OCTA Research showed.
Self-rated poverty rose to 39 percent in July from 35 percent in March, equivalent to an estimated 10.3 million families, up from about 9.2 million previously.
Self-rated hunger also increased to 21 percent from 17 percent, representing about 5.6 million families, or roughly 1.1 million more families than in March.
The increases came despite a three-percentage-point decline in self-rated food poverty, which fell to 28 percent in July from 31 percent in March.
The contrasting results suggest that while fewer families considered themselves unable to afford adequate food, more households experienced periods of involuntary hunger and a broader sense of poverty.
Among families that experienced hunger, 87 percent said they experienced it only once or a few times, indicating that most reported hunger episodes were occasional rather than frequent or continuous.
At the same time, the median monthly shortfall among food-poor households widened to P5,000 from P4,000, indicating a larger resource gap among families that continued to consider themselves food-poor.
The burden remained uneven across the country.
Mindanao recorded the highest self-rated poverty and food poverty, while Balance Luzon posted the highest incidence of hunger. Self-rated poverty increased by seven percentage points in Balance Luzon, three points in Mindanao and two points in the Visayas. It declined by three points in the National Capital Region.
At the regional level, self-rated poverty was highest in Northern Mindanao at 63 percent, followed by Central Visayas at 62 percent, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 61 percent, Davao Region at 59 percent, Zamboanga Peninsula at 56 percent and Soccsksargen at 56 percent.
The lowest poverty ratings were recorded in the Cordillera Administrative Region at 12 percent and NCR at 18 percent.
Hunger was highest in the Bicol Region at 56 percent, followed by Northern Mindanao at 37 percent, Calabarzon at 34 percent, Caraga at 29 percent and Eastern Visayas at 28 percent.
The socioeconomic divide was also pronounced. Self-rated poverty reached 62 percent among Class E households, compared with 37 percent among Class D and 20 percent among Class ABC households.
Hunger was reported by 35 percent of Class E families, compared with 20 percent of Class D and eight percent of Class ABC families. Food poverty likewise stood at 38 percent among Class E households, against 28 percent among Class D and 14 percent among Class ABC.
OCTA said the increase in self-rated poverty was driven largely by worsening perceptions outside NCR, particularly in Balance Luzon.
The results come as economic and cost-of-living concerns remain major issues for Filipino households. A separate OCTA survey released in July found that controlling increases in the prices of basic goods and services remained the country's top national concern, while improving workers' wages ranked second.
The latest TNM survey was conducted face-to-face from July 4 to 11 among 1,200 adults aged 18 and above selected through probability sampling.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level for national estimates and plus or minus six percentage points for major geographic areas. Regional estimates carry larger margins of error and should be interpreted with caution.
