QUEZON CITY, (PIA) –“Walang gutom means no more hunger. That is the dream of this administration. That is what we are hoping to achieve in this administration by the end of 2028,” President Marcos said in his speech yesterday during the pilot launch of the WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Stamp Program (FSP) held Tuesday (July 18) in Tondo, Manila.

The President emphasized it is not enough that that government provide all kinds of food, but it also makes sure that the food is of nutritional value as this “will allow especially the children and nursing mothers to become a center of health for life for their children, for their families, and for their communities…so we have set up this program.”

The pilot would take within six months to fully mature. Beneficiaries were identified for the kickoff yesterday. They are made up of the poorest food-poor families and pregnant and lactating women.

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 fisherfolks to have a platform to sell their agricultural products, while also addressing the hunger problem in the country.

The DSWD chief emphasized that the Food Stamp Program which aims to address involuntary hunger, malnutrition, and stunting among Filipinos, is not a temporary solution to end hunger.

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.

The Food Stamp Program aims to provide electronic benefit transfers that will be loaded with food credits amounting to P3,000 to purchase a select list of food commodities from DSWD accredited local retailers.

The program intends to target the bottom 1 million households from Listahanan 3 who belong to the food-poor criteria as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The DSWD has identified pilot sites coming from different geopolitical characteristics; one in geographically isolated regions or provinces; one in urban poor settings; one will be calamity-stricken areas; and one will be a rural poor area. (PIA-NCR)