The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have proposed to finance the ‘Food Stamp’ program that will focus on assisting over one million ‘food-poor’ families from 2024 to 2027, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),

A yearly budget of ₱40 billion with ₱3000 worth of food stamps monthly for the recipients would be needed for the “Walang Gutom” 2027 program.

In a news forum last Saturday, the DSWD Undersecretary Eduardo Punay said that they are still discussing it with the economics team and that it is a challenge because of the limited resources.

“But since mayroon po tayong discussions na with development partners such as ADB, nandiyan po iyong iba World Bank. We have received offers actually for funding,” Undersecretary Punay added.

With $3 million in aid from the ADB, the DSWD will lead the program from July to December, Undersecretary Punay said.

Each family recipient will acquire an electronic benefit transfer card with ₱3000 load of food credits. These credits can only be used on goods selected and purchased from local stores accredited by the DSWD.

However, the credits in the card are non-cash convertible and cannot be withdrawn from ATMs.

Included in the recipients are Filipino families that are those in the lowest income bracket, have a monthly earning of ₱8000, and are ‘food-poor’.

In order to become one of the family recipients, the DSWD is planning to include ‘getting involved in labor capacity building’ in the program.

“We want them to enroll in training programs of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) so that we can capacitate them into standing on their own. So, while we’re helping them with their food requirements, siguro iyong maitutulong natin na pagkain sa kanila, pambili ng pagkain, gamitin na lang po nilang pamasahe papunta sa TESDA, papunta sa DOLE, paghahanap ng trabaho," Punay noted.

That is the target of the program so that after graduation they can have jobs already in order to sustain their livelihood and food requirements, Punay added.