By Alec Go
The pilot testing for the proposed food stamp program of the government to address malnutrition has been approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced Tuesday.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the pilot implementation will be “fully funded through grants” from the Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the French Development Agency amounting to $3 million with a provision for expansion.
“From the pilot, we will see the nuances, what needs to be improved, what needs to be enhanced, what needs to be discontinued. It will run for six months,” he said. “We are doing the pilot so that we don’t end up with wasteful spending.”
The program, also known as “Walang Gutom 2027” will provide food credits through electronic benefits transfers amounting to P3,000 to the bottom one million households.
The subsidy will be used to purchase select food commodities from DSWD-accredited retailers.
Malacañang said one of the five pilot sites is an area in the Bangsamoro region, one in geographically isolated regions or provinces, one in urban poor settings, one will be calamity-stricken areas, and one rural poor area.
‘First 1,000 days’
According to the DSWD chief, Marcos wants to include pregnant and lactating women in the program to address stunting by taking in the “first 1,000 days” into the food stamp program.
“There are ongoing ‘first 1,000 days’ program already, but ang gusto ng Pangulo, i-synchronize natin itong mga programa na ito sa isang pamilya ng mga programa,” he said, citing the President’s marching order to fight stunting.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said malnutrition and stunting should be addressed by “life stages” starting from the pregnant mother.
“Brain development starts in the womb, and then it continues with mandatory breastfeeding. So if I’m feeding the mother correctly through the voucher program or the food stamp program, makakakain si mommy, mabe-breastfeed niya ‘yung baby for six months,” he said.
Herbosa said the stunting rate for zero to 23 months old children is 21.6% and 28.7% for children under five years old, while the rate for nutritionally at-risk pregnant women is 16.4%. – gb
