Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday (June 26) expressed his gratitude to all the local government units (LGUs) that participated in the 2024 Walang Gutom Awards (WGA) organized by the agency with the Galing Pook Foundation (GPF).

“I am happy to honor our partners from the local government units who have shown outstanding performance in local governance in addressing food insecurity and the nutrition challenges in their respective communities,” Secretary Gatchalian said in his message.

More than100 LGUs participated in the search for the best outstanding anti-hunger initiatives of which 17 qualified as finalists.

Of the 17 finalists, 10 LGUs emerged as winners with their exemplary anti-hunger efforts.

The 10 awardees received Php2 million each under the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). The funds will be used to scale up their programs in order to reach more beneficiaries.

The seven finalists, on the other hand, received Php1 million each.

“These LGU programs will be used by the Department as templates that can be adopted by other local government units that share the same context and terrain. This is bottom-up social technology development —it’s from the LGUs rather than from the Department,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.

Secretary Gatchalian emphasized that the LGUs participation in  the ‘Walang Gutom’ Awards is a testament that the DSWD is not alone in addressing the nutrition and health challenges of the country.

“We hope to continue to move forward with you, under the helm of the Bagong Pilipinas brand of governance, in order to fulfill the dream of our dear President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., to see that no Filipino in our country will go hungry – walang magugutom na Pilipino,” the DSWD chief said.

The ‘Walang Gutom’ Awards is a collaboration between the DSWD and the GPF that aims to honor and replicate the best practices of LGUs in mitigating hunger in their respective localities. #