Pilot run for food stamp program to begin next week —DSWD

The pilot run of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) food stamp program will begin next week, July 18, 2023, according to Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian.

“Magki-kick off na tayo sa Tuesday (We will kick off on Tuesday),” Gatchalian said during the weekly Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“Ang pilot [run] sisimulan sa singkwenta na pamilya sa Tondo sa Tuesday,” he said.

(The pilot will start with 50 families from Tondo on Tuesday.)

The DSWD chief said more details about the kick-off ceremony of the pilot “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program” will be disclosed on Monday, July 17.

Under the program, the DSWD will provide "electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards" that will be loaded with food credits amounting to P3,000 per month to purchase a select list of food commodities from DSWD registered or accredited retailers.

The pilot run, which will last for six months, will be funded by a $3 million grant extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to cover at least 3,000 families from targeted communities nationwide.

The entire program seeks to provide an allowance to at least one million “food poor” families or those earning less than P8,000 a month to purchase a select list of food items from accredited local retailers.

Gatchalian reiterated that the food stamp program has conditions for the beneficiaries, including attending nutrition classes and having one employed family member who can later take skills upgrade training under the Department of Labor and Employment or Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

The budget for the full run of the program until 2027 was pegged at P40 billion, covering the identified one million “food poor” families under the DSWD’s Listahanan.

For the first year, around 300,000 families are targeted to be included in the program and will gradually increase until it reaches one million families.

Gatchalian said for fiscal year 2024, the agency has earmarked P2.1 billion for the program, but the amount could still go up depending on the results of the pilot run in the second half of 2023. —VAL, GMA Integrated News