Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has approved the pilot run of the government’s food stamp program.
“The President approved the run of the pilot, which is fully-funded through grants… grants from the ADB (Asian Development Bank), JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the French Development Agency. So that will be $3 million all in all,” said Gatchalian in the press briefing at the Palace this Tuesday.
“There is a provision to expand it. ADB is still working on other trust funds so that we could expand the pilot. But other than that, it’s all green lights go for the pilot which will take place shortly,” added the secretary .
According to Gatchalian, the president wants to include single parents, pregnant women, and nursing mothers in the program.
“The President’s marching order is that we must fight stunting and hunger, joining forces with various government programs, so that they are not treated piece by piece,” explained the secretary.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that the foods to be included in the program must have nutritional value.
Pres. Marcos approves pilot run of food stamps – Gatchalian
“It actually jives, the poorest one million… be able to give them food stamps so that they will have nutritious food,” said the official.
According to Herbosa, stunting rates are at 21.6% in the age 0 to 23 months old, or one in every five children, and 28.7% for those under five years old.
Herbosa said the target of the food stamp program is to reduce stunted children by 50 percent.
“Mag-uusap kami ni Secretary Rex, we’ll of course promise what is doable kasi depende iyan pilot pa lang tayo but if you ask me, I want to hit 50% of that [unclear] decrease para talagang pababa and then hindi mo naman masi-zero iyan eh kasi there will [be] hard to reach areas,” explained Herbosa.
First, the agency explained that they would provide “electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards” that contain food credits worth P3,000 per month. This will be used to pay for selected food commodities from DSWD-registered or accredited local retailers.
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