Manila: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday expressed elation over the government’s relentless efforts to address food poverty in the country. This was after Marcos was briefed about the decline in the number of food-poor Filipinos during a sectoral meeting with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at Malacañan Palace in Manila. ‘We are doing a better job of feeding people who need it,’ Marcos said after getting an update on the implementation of the Food Stamp Program (FSP).
According to Philippines News Agency, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian informed Marcos that the number of food-poor families had decreased by 300,000, bringing the total down to 700,000 from one million FSP beneficiaries. The data was based on the files released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2023, which showed the decrease in the number of food-poor families from one million in 2021 to 700,000 in 2023.
Marcos had issued Executive Order (EO) 44 in 2023, establishing the ‘Walang Gutom: 2027: Foo
d Stamp Program’ as a flagship initiative of the national government through the DSWD to address involuntary hunger experienced by low-income households in the country. The FSP benefitted 2,366 households during its pilot implementation from December 2023 to July 2024, providing eligible families with PHP3,000 worth of food credits monthly through an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. This card can be used to purchase select food items at Kadiwa stalls and authorized retail stores.
As of October 16, the program has 182,771 verified beneficiaries, with 89,772 already redeeming their food. The government is planning to expand the program to cover an additional 300,000 household beneficiaries in 2025 and another 400,000 in 2026 across 10 regions and 22 provinces. The Marcos administration’s goal is to support one million food-poor households by 2027.