Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian reiterated on Monday (July 28) that the administration of President Ferdinand R, Marcos Jr has a concrete anti-hunger program which has been making strides since the chief executive made it a priority in 2023.
“No administration except the Marcos Jr. administration ang may kongkretong anti-hunger program,” Secretary Gatchalian said during an interview with ANC’s HeadStart.
Since the beginning of the Marcos administration, the DSWD chief said the marching order of the President to his Cabinet members has been clear – to eradicate hunger in the country by investing in human capital development.
“We’re trying to end hunger and we’ve already made strides in it,” the DSWD chief told HeadStart anchor Karen Davila.
A brainchild of Secretary Gatchalian, the Walang Gutom Program (WGP), formerly called the Food Stamp Program, aims to put an end to hunger before the end of President Marcos’ term in 2028.
“We already have 300,000 Walang Gutom beneficiaries in the program as we speak. This was scaled up last year after the pilot. Of the 300,000, they saw 4 percentage point or significant number of families saying that we are not hungry anymore, that we are food secure. So meaning, in the first 300,000 na draw, sinasabi na ng mga pamilya na 4 percent sa kanila ang binaba na hindi na kami gutom,” Secretary Gatchalian explained while citing the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey commissioned by Globe Telecom.
The SWS survey showed that among WGP program beneficiaries, the share of households experiencing ‘moderate’ hunger dropped by 4.1 percentage points —from 48.7 percent in October 2024 to 44.6 percent in December.
Secretary Gatchalian explained the drop in involuntary hunger can be attributed to the food credits subsidy given to the WGP beneficiaries, but also to the livelihood component of the WGP which helps beneficiaries to access employment opportunities and skills training.
“May condition kasi ‘tong programa na ‘to. Unang condition niya, ngayon na may pagkain na dagdag galing sa gobyerno, magtrabaho ka na. There’s a work component to it. Meaning, the one able-bodied family member has to go to DOLE-sponsored job fairs for them, apply for a job. Kapag wala talaga dahil kulang ka sa skills, TESDA is doing job trainings for them. So, it’s a one-two punch approach,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.
The WGP provides eligible families with electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards loaded with Php3,000 in monthly food credits, ensuring that food-poor households have access to sufficient and healthy meals from DSWD-accredited stores.
Beyond addressing hunger, the WGP is also designed to promote healthy eating habits to better support the nutritional needs of Filipino families, including children, which is aligned with the priorities of the Marcos administration to invest in human capital development.
“We cannot unlock their value if we’re not investing in them, if gutom sila, if hindi sila nakakapag-aral, if stunted sila. So, we’d rather look at it as an investment in human capital,” Secretary Gatchalian said.
Launched in 2023 and institutionalized in 2024 by virtue of Executive Order (EO) No. 44, the WGP is the flagship anti-hunger program of the Philippine government, which is aligned with the goal of President Marcos to address food insecurity in the country. (AKDL)