The pilot run for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)'s WALANG GUTOM 2027: Food Provision through Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (Food STAMP Program) will begin on July 18.
The beneficiaries of the pilot testing will be indigents from Tondo, Manila.
"We are ready for the kickoff. Tuesday is the kickoff of the pilot. The pilot would take within that six months to fully mature. We have already identified beneficiaries for the kickoff. They are made up of the poorest food-poor families and pregnant and lactating women," said DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Saturday, July 15.
The recipients can purchase selected nutritious foods from accredited "farmers-driven stores" and other merchants using a card issued by the agency.
According to Gatchalian, the program will also provide local farmers and fishermen a platform to sell their products.
He emphasized that the Food STAMP Program is not a temporary solution as one of its key features is "job generation".
Beneficiaries will be required to attend capacity-building and development training and become part of the country's labor force.
"You may look at the Food STAMP [Program] as a temporary solution... If their energy is low, they cannot work. The goal here is to help them start in the span of three or four years that they will be part of the program, eat right so they can find enough energy to be part of nation-building," he said.
"When the person has found a job, then he can leave such a program, then we have done our job already," he added.