A Philippine National Situationer on the COVID-19 Pandemic 19 damage on the Philippines’ goal to reduce poverty and become a middle-class society by 2040” with “incomes contracting by ten percent (and) the number of poor Filipinos rising by about 1.5 million from the baseline figures …” (de Vera 2020b). Increased poverty and rising joblessness led to increased hunger with a September 2020 survey by SWS showing that an estimated 7.6 million Filipino households “went hungry due to lack of food at least once during the height of the coronavirus pandemic” (Rappler 2020). This translated into a hunger incidence rate of 30.7 percent, topping the previous record of 23.8 percent in March 2012 and 22 points higher than the 8.8 percent hunger rate of December 2019. References ABS-CBN News. 2020. “Billions in Gov’t Loans, Millions Go Jobless: COVID-19’s Disastrous Impact on the Philippines.” July 23, 2020. https://news.abs-cbn.com/ spotlight/multimedia/infographic/07/23/20/billions-in-govt-loans-millions-gojobless-COVID-19s-disastrous-impact-on-the-philippines. Aceron, Joy. 2020. “Analysis: Challenges Facing Social Amelioration for the Coronavirus.” Rappler, April 2, 2020. https://rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/ analysis-challenges-government-social-amelioration-coronavirus. Aguilar, Krissy. 2020. “Duterte Keeps Metro Manila Under GCQ for Entire October.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 28, 2020. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/ 1341237/duterte-keeps-metro-manila-under-gcq-for-entire-october. Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa Program. 2020. “Home Page.” Accessed July 22, 2020. https://balikprobinsya.ph/. Cepeda, Mara. 2020. “Hatid Tulong Official to Critics: ‘Snapshot of Crowd in Rizal Stadium Does Not Tell Entire Story.’” Rappler, August 3, 2020. https://rappler. com/nation/hatid-tulong-officials-response-critics-snapshow-rizal-stadiumcrowd. de Vera, Ben O. 2020a. “PH Debt to Swell to P 9.59T as Gov’t Borrows More to Fight COVID-19.” Inquirer.net, May 16, 2020. https://business.inquirer. net/297443/ph-debt-to-swell-to-p-9-59t-as-govt-borrows-more-to-fightCOVID-19. ———. 2020b. “1.5M Filipinos Sliding Back to Poverty due to COVID-19.” Inquirer.net, August 5, 2020. https://business.inquirer.net/304429/1-5m-filipinosseen-sliding-back-to-poverty-due-to-covid-19. Dela Cruz, Enrico, and Neil Jerome Morales. 2020. “Philippine Economy Dives into Recession in Worst Slump on Record.” Reuters, August 6, 2020. https://www. reuters.com/article/philippines-economy-gdp/update-1-philippine-economydives-into-recession-in-worst-slump-on-record-idINP9N2EL004.