The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will scale up the implementation of the WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Stamp Program (FSP) by July next year, according to a senior agency official.
DSWD Undersecretary for Innovations Edu Punay made the announcement as he shared the scale-up plan of the FSP at the DSWD Thursday Media Forum on November 9 at the New Press Center in the Central Office.
“Ang full run ng pilot implementation for the 3,000 beneficiaries po ay magsisimula this December to May po next year… next year scale up na tayo sa 300,000 na beneficiaries, this will run mid next year. Mga July po siya magsisimula,” Usec. Punay explained.
(The full pilot run implementation for the 3,000 beneficiaries will start this December until May next year. By next year, we will scale up to 300,000 beneficiaries, this will run mid-next year or starting July 2024.)
Based on the scale-up plan, the other 600,000 beneficiaries of the FSP will be catered to by the year 2025 to fulfill the 1 million target families, who have ‘food insecurities’ and living below the food and poverty line.
“Talagang naka-program, scale up po kasi ito. Phasing ang implementation natin hindi po pwedeng bigla-bigla… May design po ang implementation natin,” Usec. Punay pointed out.
(This scale-up plan is programmed by phases. We have designed an implementation plan.)
The DSWD official also bared that the department is identifying other modalities in delivering the program, as part of the scale-up plan for FSP.
“In the implementation of the pilot run of this program this year we will be testing other modalities. We are not limited to EBTs (electronic benefits transfer) and scope-system ni WFP (World Food Programme)… We are looking at the use of QR code para wala na iyong card ,” Usec Punay emphasized.
As of now, the DSWD is rolling out the pilot run of the program in Tondo, Manila, and Dapa town in Surigao del Norte, while simultaneously conducting social preparation, identification of beneficiaries, and registration of retailers for the scaled-up implementation of the program by next year.
According to Usec. Punay, part of the scale-up plan is also the launching of the program in three other areas identified by the DSWD with the assistance of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). These include San Mariano in Isabela, Garchitorena in Camarines Sur, and Parang in Maguindanao.
The FSP provides a holistic approach to addressing involuntary hunger by providing its beneficiaries with access to monetary-based assistance and also invites them to become more productive citizens since they will be required to participate in capacity building and training to improve their employable skills. #
