TACLOBAN CITY — Recent results from the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) highlight a growing food insecurity across Eastern Visayas, affecting thousands of households and prompting calls for a deeper study to pinpoint targeted community-level intervention.
In the recently held 2025 Regional Health Research Summit by the Eastern Visayas Health Research and Development Consortium (EVHRDC), the Philippine Statistics Authority in Eastern Visayas (PSA-8) emphasized that the data presented calls for a deeper study into the region’s food insecurity.
Food insecurity, as defined by the World Food Summit and the Food and Agriculture Organization, occurs when people lack consistent access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for a healthy life.
PSA-8 Supervising Statistical Specialist Zonia Salazar said evidence-based data derived from local research will guide policy decision-makers, strengthen agricultural support programs, and design interventions that are targeted and relevant.
“The numbers are telling us it is alarming, and we cannot just sit by and continue to let them experience hunger,” Salazar said.
Food insecurity has continuously been an alarming concern for every city and municipality with households that experience varying levels of food insecurity, mainly due to a lack of money or other resources.
The CBMS data revealed alarming patterns, with 58.2% worried about not having enough food to eat; 38.8% were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food; 37.5% ate only a few types of food, and 19.5% had to skip a meal.
Furthermore, the data revealed that 25.9% ate less; 22.5% said their house ran out of food; 13.5% went hungry but did not eat, while 6.3% went without eating the whole day.
In the 2023 National Nutrition Survey for Eastern Visayas, the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) presented that 43.9% of households in the region are food insecure, ranking second nationwide after BARMM at 48.2%.
DOST-FNRI has recommended stronger food production systems, livelihood support for vulnerable households, and wider opportunities for farmers through the KADIWA and other programs.
Members and stakeholders of the EVHRDC, meanwhile, said that the CBMS findings should not be dismissed as mere statistics but rather should serve as a “call to action” for barangays, local governments, NGOs, and national agencies to collaborate toward food security and long-term well-being in Eastern Visayas.
The 2025 Regional Health Research Summit is an event held yearly by the EVHRDC to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and advance innovation in local health systems through research that responds directly to the needs of the community through initiatives that are grounded in the real issues on the ground.
(ACR/PIA Leyte)
