PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants more “Walang Gutom” kitchens (WGKs) set up across the country to serve people who do not have enough to eat, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian said yesterday.
The President, with Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officials led by Gatchalian, and Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, visited, served food and dined with beneficiaries of the WGK in Pasay City on Thursday.
They dined over a hot meal of rice paired with chicken, fish fillet, vegetables, pancit palabok, adobo, and fresh fruits such as bananas, oranges and pears.
A birthday cake was also presented to the President, who celebrated his 68th birthday last September 13, which he cut and distributed to the beneficiaries present.
Gatchalian, in presenting the cake, said the DSWD is committed to help realize the wish of the President – which is to ensure that no Filipino family would go hungry.
He also reported to Marcos that from the 48.7 percent hunger incidence in December 2024, the hunger rating is now down to 41.6 percent as of March this year.
“We will continue work to ensure that the birthday wish of the President for the people comes true — that there will be no more hungry Filipino families,” he said.
Gatchalian later told the media that the President wanted to check the operations of the DSWD’s food bank-soup kitchen and has made it the number one mission of the agency “to end hunger.”
“This kitchen is part and parcel of achieving that goal. The President wants us to open more food banks-soup kitchens nationwide to combat hunger,” he added.
The WGK is one of the DSWD’s innovative programs to help realize the longtime wish of the President that no Filipino family goes hungry. The kitchen is located at the Nasdake Building, a former POGO hub.
It first opened on December 23, 2024 to provide meals during the holiday season to people who are living on the streets.
Among the first volunteers at the WGK was First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
At least 600 walk-in clients are served daily in the WGK. It has served 108,552 individuals and provided 152,959 meals as of September 17. It operates from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Apart from servings of breakfast and lunch, the WGK also has booths that provide the DSWD’s “Pag-abot” program which provide both short term and long term aid to help people living in the streets and the homeless; the “Tara, Basa!” program for young learners to teach them how to read; and for case management services that include assessment, intervention planning, and progress tracking for homeless families.
After the event, the President and Gatchalian visited the thousands of families who were displaced during the September 13 fire in Happy Land in Tondo, Manila.
Marcos led the distribution of family food packs and emergency cash transfer to 2,200 families who are staying at the Antonio Villegas High School and Vicente Lim Elementary School, both in Tondo.
Each family received P15,109 in cash aid, food packs and hygiene kits to help them cope and rebuild their lives.
The DSWD mobile kitchen units from its field offices in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in Calabarzon also served hot, nourishing meals to the evacuees in both evacuation centers.
Marcos said medical teams, consisting of doctors and nurses, will be deployed to prevent the outbreak of illnesses among the evacuees due to overcrowding.
Also present in the events in Tondo were Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Vice Mayor Chi Atienza, Manila First District Representative Ernix Dionisio, and DSWD officials which include Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe and Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao.
