Right to Food Advocates Back CHR’s Food Security Forum

PRESS RELEASE

MANILA, Philippines – As hunger continues to plague millions of Filipinos, Right to Food advocates unite in strong support of the upcoming Food Security Forum organized by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), happening on May 21, 2025, at 8:00 AM at Liwasang Diokno, CHR Headquarters.

This forum is not just another event—it is a platform for exposing the real state of food insecurity of the Filipino people. It is a space to call to action. As advocates, we see this initiative as a critical moment for the public to deepen their understanding of the right to food as a human right, not a privilege. It is a right the state is duty-bound to uphold, especially in the face of worsening hunger and inequality.

The numbers speak for themselves: in March 2025, hunger incidence surged to 27.2%, up from 21.2% in February—the highest recorded since the pandemic. These are not just statistics; they reflect millions of lives in crisis, families going to bed hungry, and children robbed of a future.

This food crisis is rooted in structural injustice—from widespread joblessness and starvation wages, to unchecked inflation and the liberalization of agricultural markets that have devastated local producers. The Rice Liberalization Law is a glaring example: it has crippled our farmers, driven down farmgate prices, and made affordable rice even more inaccessible to the poor.

Our farmers, who grow the food we eat, are among the most food-insecure. Landlessness, displacement through land conversion, and exploitative market systems have pushed them further into poverty. This is a violation of their right to a life of dignity, and by extension, the nation’s right to food sovereignty.

We join this forum to demand bold and immediate action from the government:

• Repeal the Rice Liberalization Law

• Roll back the prices of basic commodities

• Guarantee living wages and secure jobs

• Uphold the people’s right to food and food security

We call on all sectors—civil society, grassroots organizations, workers, farmers, youth, and concerned citizens—to stand with us in the fight for the right to food. Hunger is not inevitable; it is the result of political choices. It is time we choose people over profit, and justice over hunger.