PBBM's food stamp program to go full blast in July
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
The Marcos administration is preparing for the full implementation of the “Food Stamp Program” in July this year for some 300,000 families, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said.
DSWD Undersecretary Edu Punay shared that preparations are underway to hire the staff needed in the covered areas and address voluntary hunger in low-income households there.
“This month po magsisimula na iyong validation at ating registration ng 300,000 beneficiaries para sa July na rin po natin. Naka-hire na po this month ng 1,000 validators dito sa mga implementation sites (This month, we will start the validation and registration of 300,000 beneficiaries for July. We already hired 1,000 validators in the implementation sites),” he said in a statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Saturday, May 11.
“Twenty-one provinces in 10 regions po iyan na na-identify ng ating departamento bilang priority areas (The department identified 21 provinces in 10 regions as priority areas),” the official added.
The program’s full implementation will come after the pilot program that started in December last year and is expected to end this month.
According to Punay, the DSWD will review and assess the results of the six-month pilot testing to determine the impact of the program to the select beneficiaries.
The initial assessment conducted from February to March this year showed a significant impact to the lives of the select beneficiaries, the official added.
As the program’s lead agency, the DSWD is tasked to identify eligible beneficiaries of the program and to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure efficient and timely distribution of the food stamps.
President Marcos established the “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program” through Executive Order No. 44.
As the flagship program of the DSWD, the program provides low-income households monetary-based assistance through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that can be used in purchasing select food commodities from eligible partner merchant stores.