Opposition Senator Francis ‘’Kiko’’ N. Pangilinan on Saturday, Nov. 20, the World Children’s Day, said the “silent killers” of hunger and malnutrition, which kills 95 Filipino children every day, must be stopped alongside managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pangilinan said that the UNICEF, known as the United Nations Children’s Fund, 95 Filipino children die daily due to malnutrition.

This is more than the 74 Filipinos dying daily due to COVID-19 daily, he pointed out.

“The youth is our country’s future. We should feed our future. If the young are weak, the future is weak,” he added.

The former food security secretary said he calls malnutrition a “silent killer” because it is not as visible as murder.

Unfortunately, Pangilinan said, malnutrition and hunger would also kill Philippine development and economy if we don’t address it.

‘’In the middle of the pandemic, more went hungry. A girl we talked to said that when her single-mom mother lost her job, they went to bed with only water to fill their tummy,” he recalled.

Pangilinan advocates food security for the country, as he laments the Philippines’ increasing dependence on imported food.

‘’To ensure the country’s and our children’s food, we need to rely on our own ability, on the ability of our farmers and fisherfolk. Imported food should only be to fill gaps, not be the main source of our food in the Philippines,” he said.

‘’We should invest heavily in providing proper and enough food for all Filipinos,” he added.

Pangilinan said that in Vice President Leni Robredo’s COVID-19 response plan that includes freedom from sickness, hunger, and lack of education, the budget for agriculture would double in six years to secure our food.

’’How will we end hunger? We will develop agriculture and fisheries until our harvest and catch are plentiful. In the law of supply and demand, more supply means lower prices. Lower prices means more will be able to afford food, more will not go hungry, more will become healthy,” he pointed out.