Government to scale up food stamp program

MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s food stamp program or FSP would be scaled-up in July next year to benefit at least 300,000 poor families in the country, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.

Eduardo Punay, DSWD undersecretary for innovations, said the household beneficiaries for the Walang Gutom 2027 program will be chosen nationwide, prioritizing those from 30 to 40 provinces identified by the National Nutrition Council with the highest incidents of malnutrition and hunger.

“From there, we will be able to select those who will be included in the priority list,” Punay said in Filipino during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant and Bar in Quezon City.

President Marcos earlier issued Executive Order 44, which establishes the FSP as his administration’s flagship program to help more food-poor families. Its pilot implementation targets only 3,000 families and would run until May next year.

The pilot implementation, according to Punay, will be done in five sites: Tondo in Manila, Dapa in Siargao, San Mariano in Isabela, Garchitorena in Camarines Sur, and Parang in Maguindanao del Norte.

This pilot test is funded through a $3-million grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Punay said the second half of the FSP implementation would be funded through the General Appropriations Act (GAA), which already contains an allocation of P1.9 billion. He noted, though, that the program needs a total budget of P6 billion.

“That leaves us with a balance of P4.1 billion. The DBM (Department of Budget and Management) will be looking for other sources to fund this,” he pointed out.

The program aims to benefit one million food-poor families.