DSWD ready to pilot Food STAMP Program

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Saturday (July 15) that the DSWD is now ready to pilot the WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Provision through Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (Food STAMP Program).

“Handang-handa na tayo sa kickoff. Tuesday is the kickoff of the pilot. The pilot would take within that six months to fully mature. Tukoy na sila [beneficiaries] They are made of the poorest food-poor families and pregnant and lactating women,” Secretary Gatchalian said in the weekly Saturday News Forum.

(We are ready for the kickoff. Tuesday is the kickoff of the pilot. The pilot would take within that six months to fully mature. We have already identified beneficiaries for the kickoff. They are made up of the poorest food-poor families and pregnant and lactating women.)

“May card na sila at magagamit na nila sa Tuesday yon. Ang gagamitin nating modality ay isang Kadiwa ng Pangulo kasi we want to show that this is a full spectrum of farm-to-table,” the DSWD chief said.

(They already have a card and they can use it on Tuesday. The modality we will use is one of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo because we want to show that this is a full spectrum of farm-to-table.)

Through the Food STAMP Program, beneficiaries can buy selected nutritious foods in accredited ‘farmers-driven stores’ and other merchants.

This will help local farmers and fisherfolks to have a platform to sell their agricultural products, while also addressing the hunger problem in the country.

The DSWD chief also emphasized that the Food Stamp Program which aims to address involuntary hunger, malnutrition, and stunting among Filipinos, is not a temporary solution to end hunger.

One of the key features of the Food STAMP Program is job generation. Beneficiaries of the program will be required to attend capacity building and development training as well as become part of the labor workforce.

“You may look at at the Food STAMP [Program] as a temporary solution… Kung ang energy nila ay mababa, hindi sila makapagtrabaho. Ang goal nga natin dito ay tulungan silang makabwelo sa tatlo o apat na taon na bahagi sila ng programa, makakain ng tama para makahanap sila ng sapat na energy to be part of nation building,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.

(You may look at at the Food STAMP [Program] as a temporary solution… If their energy is low, they cannot work. The goal here is to help them start in the span of three or four years that they will be part of the program, eat right so they can find enough energy to be part of nation-building.)

“Kapag ang tao ay nakahanap na ng trabaho, then makakaalis na sya sa ganyang programa then we have done our job already,” the DSWD Chief added.

(When the person has found a job, then he can leave such a program, then we have done our job already.)

The Food STAMP Program will be piloted on Tuesday (July 18) in Tondo, Manila. #