“Walang gutom”  —  no one hungry  —  is the name of this new food stamp program introduced by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that aims to provide nutritious food access to one million food-poor Filipinos across the country. This program’s pilot and full implementation garnered the approval of the President early this week, after a sectoral meeting attended by various Cabinet secretaries. Malacañang said that aside from the President’s approval, he also tasked the DSWD, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), to “look into the nutritional value of the food that will be given to the program beneficiaries.” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the pilot run of the food stamp program “will take place shortly” and run for six months, while the actual implementation is projected to start by the first quarter of 2024. “From the pilot (test), we will see the nuances — what needs to be improved, what needs to be enhanced, what needs to be discontinued,” he said. “We are doing the pilot so that we don’t end up with wasteful spending. We want to make sure that when we do expand the program on its regular run, even if the President already approved it, we want to learn from the pilot and we want to start right.” Gatchalian explained that the “Walang Gutom 2027” program would benefit not only the food-poor families, but also single parents, as well as pregnant and lactating women to address the first 1,000 days of a child’s development. “The President wants wider access to the food stamp program to address stunting and hunger in the country.” The DSWD said that the pilot sites will include the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, geographically isolated regions or provinces, urban poor settings, calamity-stricken areas, and rural poor communities. There is no literal “stamp” in this program, instead, electronic benefit transfers will be loaded with food credits amounting to ₱3,000 to enable the targeted beneficiaries to purchase a select list of commodities from DSWD-accredited local retailers. It would be a win-win scenario as the program would also benefit local farmers who would be tapped to bring rural produce to the program. The DSWD would work with the Department of Agriculture to ensure that local produce will not go to waste. “Thirty percent of farmers are actually poor. They will benefit two-fold into this program. Not only do they get nutritious, delicious, affordable food, but their produce will be purchased. It’s a captured market, so to speak. A million Filipino families who are hungry will be the captured market,” Gatchalian said. It seems that it’s all systems go for “Walang Gutom 2027” and based on its merits, it would be a win-win solution on two fronts — fighting hunger and malnutrition, and providing local farmers an immediate and captured market. Though the merits of this food stamp program outweigh the negative aspects, it should be prudent for the DSWD to fine-tune the processes, carefully screen the beneficiaries’ list, and tighten regulations to truly serve the underserved. The six-month pilot run is a crucial time to refine this program to its best version, for it to avoid the risk of becoming a tool for abuse, or a pathway to mendicancy. Welfare is for those who genuinely need a helping hand, not for those who want to take an arm and grab a leg.