Walang Gutom 2027: 300,000 extra households to get meals stamps

ENSURING THE NEXT MEAL The digital switch card card issued to the “Walang Gutom” program beneficiaries is loaded with a month-to-month meals stipend of P3,000 and can be utilized at government-run Kadiwa shops or accomplice shops designated by the Division of Social Welfare and Growth.—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The Division of Social Welfare and Growth (DSWD) has begun the scaled-up implementation of its meals stamp program, with round 300,000 households focused to obtain the month-to-month stipend this 12 months.

The ceremonial launch of the total rollout of the “Walang Gutom (no starvation) 2027: Meals Provision by way of Strategic Switch and Various Measures Program (Meals Stamp)” was held in Leyte province on Thursday.

The kickoff was concurrently held in 9 different provinces—Isabela, Camarines Sur, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Maguindanao and Surigao del Norte.

READ: Gov’t meals stamp program in full blast by July – DSWD

Social Welfare Undersecretary Eduardo Punay on Friday mentioned this system hoped to succeed in as a lot as 1 million “food-poor” households by 2027.

To achieve this goal, one other 300,000 households might be issued stamps in 2025, after which 400,000 extra in 2026, Punay informed the Inquirer.

READ: ‘Walang Gutom 2027: Meals Stamp Program’ declared main gov’t challenge

Citing information from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the DSWD mentioned round 1.4 million households within the nation could also be thought-about food-poor.

Meals stamps

The PSA determine was utilized by the DSWD as foundation for concentrating on 1 million meals stamp recipients nationwide within the subsequent three years.

The poverty-alleviation program’s six-month pilot run, which began in July final 12 months, had 50 households as preliminary beneficiaries who had been chosen in 5 areas: Tondo district in Manila, San Mariano city in Isabela province, Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte, Garchitorena city in Camarines Sur, and Parang city in Maguindanao. It was was initially funded by way of a $3-million grant from Asian Growth Financial institution.

READ: DSWD mulls digital meals stamps to deal with starvation

For its full implementation, a funding of P1.89 billion for 2024 has been put aside, the DSWD earlier mentioned.

This system seeks to scale back the incidence of malnutrition and starvation in low-income households or these with earnings beneath P8,000 monthly.

On the time of this system’s launch, the prevailing month-to-month meals threshold set by the PSA for a household of 5 was P8,379. Which means that a family member is taken into account meals poor if she or he spends beneath P55.86 on meals per day, at P18.62 per meal.

READ: Pilot run of DSWD’s meals stamp program to start out July 18

In December that very same 12 months, the PSA’s up to date meals threshold for a household of the identical measurement rose to P9,550 monthly. To be meals poor now’s to have a meal value beneath P21, or a finances of simply P63.67 for all of the day’s meals.

P3,000 month-to-month load

An digital switch card loaded month-to-month with P3,000 value of meals credit are supplied to households, which they will use to purchase high-nutrition meals gadgets from the DSWD’s accomplice retailers.

The beneficiaries could not use the cardboard to buy so-called sin merchandise, comparable to liquor and cigarettes.

The DSWD maintained that the meals stamp challenge was “not a dole-out program” since its beneficiaries have to fulfill two situations to keep away from being delisted.

First, they have to attend diet training periods as soon as a month to “foster constructive behavioral change” whereas studying to arrange “wholesome, but tasty” meals.

Second, they have to take part in “employment promotion actions” at authorities job gala’s or courses carried out by the Technical Schooling and Expertise Growth Authority.

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