By Joyce Ann Rocamora | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on July 18 will pilot the Marcos administration’s food stamp program (FSP) starting with 50 food-poor families, including pregnant women and lactating moms, in Tondo, Manila.
The kick-off will expand to cover 3,000 families targeted for the six-month pilot nationwide.
The DSWD will then evaluate the results after half a year and move to the scaled-up program, which aims to reach the one million families who belong to the food-poor bracket or those with a monthly income of less than P8,000.
“Kung maganda ang resulta, then we move to the scaled-up where it will be initially 300,000 families and then another 300,000 the year after until we reach the one million food-poor families,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said at a forum in Quezon City on Saturday, July 15.
The pilot is funded with USD3 million (approximately P163 million) in grants from the Asian Development Bank and the World Food Program.
Gatchalian pointed out that this is not a dole-out but a development program that aims to invest in human capital.
Aside from digital stamps worth P3,000 food credits, the FSP will also provide nutrition development classes and training programs to reskill the beneficiaries.
“Dahil ang rationale ay nakakain na, may enerhiya na, wala nang rason para hindi lumabas at maging bahagi ng produktibong sambayanang Pilipino. We want them to find work out there,” Gatchalian said.
He said the agency is in talks with the country’s economic managers for the program’s funding allocation, which has an initial earmarking of P2.1 billion.
“They will look at the measurables, so we have to execute the pilot very well. Whether it’s going to be more grants from abroad whatever funding option there is, ang titignan nila ‘yong resulta ng pilot,” he said.
The government’s “Walang Gutom 2027” program requires an annual budget of P40 billion to provide the targeted beneficiaries with P3,000 worth of food stamps per month.
