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DSWD allocates P1.89 B for a 'scaled up' food stamp program in July
DSWD allocates P1.89 B for a 'scaled up' food stamp program in July
The “scaled up” implementation of the “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program (FSP)” has been allocated P1.89 billion to cover 300,000 more household beneficiaries by July, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Thursday, March 14.
DSWD Assistant Secretary for Innovations Baldr Bringas said the budget for the FSP’s regular implementation is included in the agency’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2024.
“For the regular implementation, we are planning that by July we will be able to scale up from 3,000 to 300,000 beneficiaries. The following year, we will add another 300,000. So that will total 600,000 beneficiaries by 2025, and by 2027, hopefully we can onboard 1 million beneficiaries—all the target beneficiaries of the food stamp program,” Bringas said in a mix of English and Filipino in a media forum.
The FSP, which has an initial US$3 million budget from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is currently being pilot tested in five areas across the country—Tondo, Manila; San Mariano, Isabela; Dapa, Siargao Island; Garchitorena, Camarines Sur; and Parang, Maguindanao.
It is a fully digitized program launched by the DSWD in July 2023 in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the ADB.
“Now, for next year, there is no budget yet. But we will need around P17 billion to implement the program considering that there are 600,000 target beneficiaries,” Bringas said.
Under the program, each household beneficiary receives a monthly food credit of P3,000, which can be used to purchase nutrition-rich food items from DSWD-accredited partner retailers.
“EBT credits cannot be withdrawn from an ATM. It can only be used at accredited stores,” Bringas noted.
Based on the DSWD data, there are currently 17 FSP authorized retailers across the country.
To ensure a balanced and healthy diet, 50 percent of food credits are allocated to carbohydrate-rich foods like rice and bread (P1,500), 30 percent to proteins like chicken or pork (P900), and 20 percent to vegetables, fruits, oil, salt, and condiments (P600).
Bringas pointed out that in order for beneficiaries to receive food credits on a regular basis, they need to participate in job fairs hosted by the Department of Labor and Employment, nutrition education sessions, and technical skills training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Beneficiaries are chosen by using the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, which shows that 1.04 million families are “food-poor,” and the DSWD’s database of poor households, the “Listahanan,” he said.