PH envoy to Italy seeks more feeding aid from World Food Program

Manila’s top envoy to Italy has asked the Word Food Program to provide more assistance to the Philippine government’s school feeding drive that seeks to address undernutrition of school children in public schools nationwide.

Philippine Ambassador to Rome Neal Imperial made the appeal during a meeting with WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain when he presented his letter of appointment last month as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations organization.

In response, McCain told Imperial that the WFP “appreciates its close partnership and friendship with the Philippines in achieving zero hunger and in prioritizing the school feeding program.”

Imperial thanked McCain and said the Philippines looks forward to closer cooperation with WFP and its commitment to scale up its programs in the country, particularly the government’s flagship project, the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP). 

Aside from the SBFP, Imperial said the WFP is also the Philippines’ partner in the Marcos administration’s Walang Gutom 2027 food stamp program that was launched last Aug. 31.

Supervised by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),  the food stamp program aims to reduce involuntary hunger and malnutrition in low-income households by providing them access to monetary-based assistance in the form of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, which will be loaded with food credits.

Around 3,000 low-income families were listed as initial beneficiaries under the pilot program.

The WFP first worked with the Philippines in 1968. At the request of the Philippine government, it re-established its presence in the country in 2006 to support the peace process in Mindanao.

Today, the WFP supports the country’s emergency response to natural hazards and armed conflicts, capacity-building, and in achieving food and nutrition security, Imperial said.

WFP also contributes to the improvement of Philippine agriculture and the food processing industry by investing in value chains for high-value local crops, he added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News