Pilot rollout of food stamps OKd to reduce malnutrition

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved the pilot rollout and eventual full implementation of the food stamp program, which is expected to help reduce the number of malnutrition and stunted children.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Press briefer Daphne O. Paez disclosed the President made the decision when he met with officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday.

D uring the meeting, Marcos approved the proposed 1 million household beneficiaries for the food stamp program or the “Walang Gutom 2027.”

He also sought the implementing agencies’ commitment to ensure the food—to be made accessible in the program—will be nutritious, and will also be given to single parents, as well as pregnant and lactating women in line with the Republic Act (RA) No.11148 or the First 1000 Days Law.

Under RA 11148, the government will provide an “enabling environment for the sustained provision of critical early child care interventions for the first 1000 days of a child’s life, for optimal growth and development.”

Pilot project

FOLLOWING the program’s approval, DSWD is now set to launch the pilot of the food stamp program next month.

We are doing the pilot so that we don’t end up with wasteful spending.

We want to make sure that when we do expand the program on its regular run, even if the President already approved, we want to learn from the pilot and we want to start right—that was the takeaway,” DSWD Secretary Rexlon “Rex” T. Gatchalian said.

He said the US$3 million budget for the pilot will come from grants from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the French Development Agency.

I t will cover 3,000 family beneficiaries, who will each receive tap cards that they can use to buy a select list of food commodities worth P3,000 from DSWD-accredited local retailers.

T he beneficiaries will come from the Listahan 3 of DSWD, which includes 1 million households falling under the “food-poor” criteria of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

D SWD Undersecretary Eduardo

M. Punay said they will coordinate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to select the establishments