With targets fixed on ending hunger, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will boost the Walang Gutom Program (WGP) with an additional 300,000 beneficiaries within the year, and an additional 150,000 food-poor families next year.
Undersecretary Eduardo Punay of the DSWD’s Innovations and Programs Development Group (IPDG) told reporters during the Thursday (July 31) Media Forum that the WGP’s scale up means that all 750,000 identified food-poor families will be benefiting from the program by next year.
“Initially, nung nagsimula ito, nung nagkick off tayo at nagreleae ng Executive Order si PBBM, ang original target is 1M household-beneficiaries based sa data ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 2021, doon sa kanilang food insecurity survey. Pero noong 2023, update ni PSA ang kanilang data, after two years at nilabas ito last year lang at bumaba ito around 750,000 ang food poor families sa ating bansa kaya nag adjust po kami ng target,” Undersecretary Punay said.
During the Media Forum, the DSWD official reiterated to reporters that officials of local government units (LGUs) have no hand in the selection of WGP beneficiaries.
“Ito pong Food Stamp Program, targeted po ito, very targeted. Ang nakakasama lamang po dito ay iyong mga identified talagang food poor. Right now, galing po sa database ng mahihirap na pamilya ng DSWD, yung Listahanan 3, doon po nanggagaling ang benepisyaryo nito. Hindi po ito mga endorsed ng mga mayor, ng mga local government,” Undersecretary Punay explained.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced his directive for the increase of WGP beneficiaries to eventually cover all food-poor households and end hunger by 2028.
Presently, the program is implemented in 22 provinces across 10 regions.
The subsequent list of beneficiaries will be based on the list of food-poor from the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) of the PSA.
Under the WGP, the beneficiaries receive Php3,000 food credits provided through the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. A unique feature of the program, the food credits in the EBT cards are intended to purchase nutritious food items and are non-convertible to cash.
The beneficiaries of the WGP are required to attend nutrition education sessions (NES) to learn about health and nutrition, as well as productivity enhancement sessions aimed at upskilling them for possible livelihood opportunities.
In its second year, the WGP has already shown its positive effects in responding to the hunger concerns of the 300,000 pilot beneficiaries.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by Globe Telecom 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.
Undersecretary Punay emphasized that the WGP implementation, similar to the other development programs of the DSWD,, employs the whole-of-government approach to provide a comprehensive intervention to the food poor families.
“Sa Walang Gutom, sa inissue pong executive order ni Pangulong Marcos, whole-of-government approach ang design nito. Kasama po natin sa implementation ang Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), ang Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd). Kasama po natin sila para makapacitate ang mga pamilya na maiangat ang kanilang buhay,” the DSWD official pointed out.
Tatay Anselmo Brosas, a beneficiary from Tondo, Manila, who was invited to speak at the Media Forum, shared that his family of 10 is now able to eat more than three meals a day.
“Napakalaking bagay po. Simple lang naman po buhay namin. Marami po akong pinapakain. Nuong napasama po ako sa Walang Gutom Program, nagbago po yung buhay namin. Noong araw po kasi, gipit po talaga kami. Mahirap lang po talaga kami,” Tatay Anselmo told reporters.
With the program, the Brosas family is not only able to eat on time, but they can now also buy fruits and vegetables.
“Ngayon po, sobra sobra po. Sapat na sapat na po. Wala pong nagtatanong na, tatay, may hahain po ba tayo mamya. Alam napo nila ngayon na kapag tanghalian, meron, pagdating ng hapunan, meron. Siyempre mga bata pag nagugutom, iiyak po yan. Ngayon, masaya na po mga apo ko. Kaya po napakalaking bagay po na binigay po sa atin ito ni Pangulong BBM,” Tatay Anselmo said.
Empowered and in good health, Tatay Anselmo recently won the Metro Manila Regional Walang Gutom cook-off challenge where he was given Php15,000 in cash prize. (GDVF)