Gov’t food stamp program in full blast by July – DSWD

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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will begin by July the full implementation of its food stamp program for 300,000 beneficiaries after a six-month pilot program that started in December.

Social Welfare Undersecretary Eduardo Punay said during a forum in Quezon City on Saturday that the agency has begun preparations with the hiring of more personnel in the provinces where the program will be rolled out.

“This month, we will begin the registration and validation of 300,000 beneficiaries. We also hired less than 1,000 validators in our implementation sites. We identified 21 provinces in 10 regions as priority areas,” Punay said.

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The DSWD began its pilot implementation of the food stamp program in December last year with an initial 2,285 beneficiaries from Tondo, Manila; San Mariano, Isabela; Dapa, Siargao; Gachitorena, Camarines Sur; and Parang, Maguindanao.

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After the six-month pilot implementation that will end this May, the DSWD will conduct review and assessment in June.

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A beneficiary should be a “food-poor” family, or those belonging to the lowest income bracket with a monthly income of P8,000.

P3K-a-month food credits

Under the program, a beneficiary will receive an electronic benefit transfer card loaded with P3,000 worth of food credits every month that can be used to purchase certain commodities from DSWD-accredited local retailers.

Meanwhile, the DSWD said it is eyeing to reach 1 million beneficiaries of the program by 2027 as part of President Marcos’ directive for the food-stamp initiative to be a flagship program in reducing involuntary hunger among Filipinos.

Moreover, The food stamp program will have 300,000 beneficiaries for 2024 and 600,000 beneficiaries by 2025.

Punay stressed that besides giving P3,000 a month in food credits to “food-poor” families, the program is aimed at promoting social and behavioral changes among poor Filipinos by encouraging them to eat and prepare inexpensive, nutritious and delicious food.