MANILA -- The Department of Budget and Management has approved next year’s budgetary requirement of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the scaled up implementation of “Walang Gutom 2027,” a flagship program of the Marcos administration.

“At ang ating projected budget po next year, for the second half po ng ating implementation kasi mag-i-start na po iyong—matatapos iyong pilot natin. May at June ang ating review, and then July na iyong implementation natin noong 300,000 scale-up and that will require us six billion pesos in budget po next year,” DSWD Undersecretary Edu Punay said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday.

“And we already met with the Department of Budget and Management and they committed to provide for the financial budgetary requirements of the program. So, we’re very happy that this will be implemented next year … talagang may working budget na po tayo dahil—thanks to the EO 44 ni Presidente,” Punay said, referring to Executive Order No. 44, establishing the “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program.”

Punay said that the DSWD is still in the pilot implementation of the Food Stamp Program, which will run until the middle of next year.

The agency’s target is 3,000 families in five pilot sites, that include households in Tondo in Manila; Dapa in Siargao; San Mariano in Isabela; Garchitorena in Camarines Sur; and, Parang in Maguindanao.

“Ito po iyong na-identify kasama ng partner-implementer natin na (UN) World Food (Programme) na mga pilot sites. So 3,000 po muna and this pilot will be funded by three million grant from the Asian Development Bank,” Punay said, adding that the DSWD will fully implement the program targeting one million food-poor households nationwide.

“And next year when we scale-up, there will be 300,000 beneficiaries ‘no, household beneficiaries mid-next year, sisimulan po natin iyan. And parte po nitong declaration ni President, EO 44, ng kaniyang order is iyong provision ng budget po ‘no; kasama po iyan kaya na-institutionalize, may budget na po—magkakaroon po tayo ng budget sa GAA (General Appropriations Act).”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued EO 44 that institutionalizes the Food Stamp program, which is being carried out through a whole-of-government approach with the DSWD acting as lead agency. (PND)