DSWD: Validators to be deployed for food stamp program

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to deploy validators for the registration and validation of 300,000 targeted families in preparation of the full-scale implementation of the ''Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program'' in July.

At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, DSWD Undersecretary for Innovations Eduardo Punay said the program will have a three- to four-year run where the government will provide food augmentation for the identified one million food-poor families, or five million individuals.

"We already hired the needed staff in our areas of implementation, 10 regions po 'yun and 21 provinces na 300,000 'yung families ang ating target," he said.

(We already hired the needed staff in our areas of implementation in 10 regions and 21 provinces, targeting 300,000 families.)

Punay added that the agency hired less than 1,000 validators in priority areas.

According to Punay, the pilot implementation, which involves 3,000 households, began in December last year and is scheduled to conclude this month.

Funded through a $3-million grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the program 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.

Bulk of the food credits will be allocated to carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice at P1,500, 30% for proteins like meat at P900, and 20% for fruits, vegetables, oil, salt, as well as condiments at P600.

The program will run until 2027 and require a total estimated budget of P40 billion, as it targets one million food-poor families or those earning less than P8,000 in a month.

The DSWD will gradually increase the number of beneficiaries from 300,000 in the first year to another 300,000 in the second year and 400,000 in the third, for a total of one million food-poor household beneficiaries. —VBL, GMA Integrated News