1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero (Facebook)

1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero recently filed a measure institutionalizing a comprehensive food stamp program that involves the use of "tap cards". The measure, embodied in House Bill (HB) No.8532, aims to aid all poor households in the country. It was filed by Romero last June 13. Through the bill, Romero--the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation chairman--intends to effectively assist the disadvantaged sectors by partnering with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Agriculture (DA). The measure aims to create a comprehensive food stamp program that will utilize benefit cards or tap cards loaded with food credits amounting to P5,000. The beneficiaries can use the cards to buy items from a select list of healthy products from DSWD-accredited local retailers. “This comprehensive food stamp program, as proposed and executed in other countries, are actually agricultural programs. They aim to link rural surpluses with food-poor urban  communities. This way, we could effectively address both urban poverty and rural poverty,” explained the House leader. Last month, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian brought up the possibility of implementing a food stamp program as a way to reduce hunger in the country. The Romero bill seeks to supplement all poor families' intake and to possibly diminish and in time completely eliminate hunger in urban and rural communities. It says that the DSWD should integrate its planned food stamp program with efforts by the agriculture department to expand the market for local farm products. “As the lead agency in social welfare and development, the DSWD would formulate policies and plans which provide direction to intermediaries and other implementers in the development and delivery of social welfare and development services,” Romero added. The program would be conditional and have a “work component"; this means beneficiaries would need to find work to keep the benefits. The beneficiaries will be families whose income does not go beyond P8,000 a month. Romero said the program targets at least 300,000 families by 2024. He hopes to increase the tap card recipients to one million in the following years.