THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday said some 300,000 poor families from 10 regions across the country will benefit from the government’s “Walang Gutom” 2027 food stamp program (FSP), which will officially kick off in July.
DSWD assistant secretary and spokeswoman Irene Dumlao said the beneficiaries of the FSP have already been identified and would come from regions II (Cagayan Valley), V (Bicol), VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), X (Northern Mindanao), XII (Soccsksargen), Caraga and the national capital Region (NCR).
The beneficiaries would still include the close to 3,000 families that participated in the six-month pilot implementation of the program, Dumlao added.
The pilot implementation, that started in December 2023 and set to end in June 2024, were done in Tondo in Manila, Dapa in Surigao del Norte, San Mariano in Isabela, Garchitorena in Camarines Sur, and Parang in Maguindanao.
DSWD is expected to further increase the number of beneficiaries to 600,000 families by 2025, and to one million food poor families by 2026.
The program provides the poorest of the poor families with a monthly P3,000 food credits that can be exchanged in accredited establishments for nutritious food.
It requires beneficiaries to seek jobs while under the program, or undergo skills training to prepare them for employment.
Dumlao said that of the initial 3,000 families that joined the pilot implementation, at least 38 beneficiaries have undergone skills training under the Technical Educations and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and participated in job fairs organized by the government. Seven of those who went to the job fairs have secured jobs.
Dumlao said the FSP not only aims to address hunger and nutrition, but also to capacitate beneficiaries to enable them to provide food and a source of livelihood for their families in the future.
As this developed, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian underscored the significance of community participation in the procurement process system of the agency’s anti-hunger program.
During the workshop for the Negotiated Procurement-Community Participation (NP-CP) held in Zamboanga City last week, Gatchalian said Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 47 issued by the Office of the President to support the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program, provides for the use of community participation the DSWD’s anti-hunger initiatives, especially in the feeding program.
