QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to kickoff the implementation of its Food Stamp Program on Tuesday (July 18) in Tondo, Manila.

This was announced by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Saturday announced in a News Forum.

“We are ready for the kickoff. Tuesday is the kickoff of the pilot. The pilot would take within that six months to fully mature. We have already identified beneficiaries for the kickoff. They are made up of the poorest food-poor families and pregnant and lactating women,” Gatchalian said.

“They already have a card and they can use it on Tuesday. The modality we will use is one of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo because we want to show that this is a full spectrum of farm-to-table,” Gatchalian added.

WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Provision through Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (Food Stamp Program) aims to address involuntary hunger, malnutrition, and stunting among Filipinos, is not a temporary solution to end hunger.

Through the Food Stamp Program, beneficiaries can buy selected nutritious foods in accredited ‘farmers-driven stores’ and other merchants.

This will help local farmers and fisherfolk to have a platform to sell their agricultural products, while also addressing the hunger problem in the country.

One of the key features of the Food Stamp Program is job generation. Beneficiaries of the program will be required to attend capacity building and development training as well as become part of the labor workforce.

“You may look at at the Food Stamp as a temporary solution… If their energy is low, they cannot work. The goal here is to help them start in the span of three or four years that they will be part of the program, eat right so they can find enough energy to be part of nation-building,” Gatchalian said.

“When the person has found a job, then he can leave such a program, then we have done our job already,” he added. (dswd/pia-ncr)