responsibilities including budgeting for their families, they are the first to be affected by any increase in food prices. When food prices rise faster than their incomes they easily fall prey to hunger and slide deeper into poverty. “Yong sa pagkain naman, iyon ang medyo mahirap kasi para sa mga ina na laging nasa bahay, nahihirapan talaga silang mag-budget. ‘Yong inuuna ang mga anak kaysa sa sarili, lalo na kapag PWD, hindi ba? Mahirap na nga sa mga taong walang kapansanan, lalo na sa PWD.” “In terms of food, it is difficult for mothers who are always at home. They have difficulty budgeting. They attend to the needs of their children before their own, especially if the child has disability. It is difficult already for people without disability, more so with PWD.” “Tungkol naman sa pagkain, wala kaming source ng bigas. ‘Yong iba kasi mayroon silang mga farm, palayan. Kami naman ay bumibili lang ng bigas, sobrang mahal naman. 2,000 pesos ang isang sakong bigas. Kapag may mabibiling NFA rice, bumibili ako. Kaya lang sa ngayon, wala ka ng mabibiling NFA rice. Konting bigas lang ang nabibili ko tapos, mayroon kaming konting tanim ng gulay sa bakuran ng bahay, iyon lang ang pagkain namin. Hindi naman kami masyadong kumakain ng karne kasi isda at gulay lang ang kinakain namin talaga.” Women with disabilities or mothers caring for family member with disability suffer hunger in silence as they put first the needs of their children. As shared by women with disabilities in the FGDs, sometimes they refrain from eating or eat less so that their children could eat first. Often when income of the family is insufficient it is often women who looked for other sources of income by engaging in side jobs such as selling fruit snacks. “Hindi na lang kami kumakain para makakain ‘yong mga anak namin. (Minsan, lugaw lang ang pagkain namin. Nagbebenta ako ng saging para may pandagdag sa pambili namin ng pagkain. O kaya naman, ulam lang namin ay bagoong, ganoon lang.” Absence of a law that expressly guarantee the right to adequate food The Philippine legal framework falls short of the essential requirements to fulfill its obligation towards the full realization of the right to adequate food. The Philippine legal framework ensures availability of food, however, it does not increase physical access to food, and its contributions towards strengthening food economic accessibility are marginal, at best. While there are laws that contribute to hunger alleviation, these are not pursued in tandem and complementary with the rest of the laws. During the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food official visit in 2015, it recommended that the Philippines passed the Zero-Hunger Bill or Right to Adequate Framework Bill, which aims to provide for a whole-of-government 24