DSWD ON LATEST SWS SURVEY: FOOD STAMP PROGRAM TO ADDRESS HUNGER

The Department of Social Welfare and Development on Saturday said the Walang Gutom 2027 food stamp program targets to address the food insecurity and hunger faced by Filipinos.

"'Yung food insecurity na 2% 'yung target ng food stamp program na ma-address," DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(The food insecurity of 2% [of respondents of the Social Weather Stations survey] — that is the target that the food stamp program aims to address.)

The DSWD official made the comment after the SWS came out with the results of its survey done last March 21 to 25 showing that Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger, meaning being hungry and not having anything to eat, increased to 14.2%.

Of the 14.2% families who experienced hunger, 12.2% had moderate hunger while 2% suffered from severe hunger.

Moderate hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months. Severe hunger on the other hand refers to those who experienced it “often” or “always” in the previous three months.

"'Yung food stamp program ng DSWD ay may dalawang objectives. Una, bawasan ang bilang ng mahihirap na Pilipino na dumaranas ng involuntary hunger and malnutrition. Ikalawa, matulungan sila na magkatrabaho, magkaroon ng kasanayan o kakayahan para maging mga kapakipakinabang na members ng kanilang community," Dumlao said.

(The food stamp program of the DSWD has two objectives. One is to decrease the number of poor Filipinos experiencing involuntary hunger and malnutrition. Second is to help them get jobs, skills or capacity to be useful members of their community.)

Under the Walang Gutom 2027 program launched in September 2023, beneficiaries will receive an electronic benefit transfer card containing P3,000 worth of food credits given monthly. Beneficiaries are required to undergo nutrition sessions before they can receive the card.

This can be used to buy food from stores accredited by the DSWD such as Kadiwa, Dumlao added.

"Ang objective ng programa, matulungan sila na mabigyan sila ng makakain upang kalaunan, matulungan nila ang kanilang sarili na sila ay maghanap na ng kanilang sariling makakain," she added.

(The program's objective is to help them have food to eat so that they can eventually help themselves be able to source their own food.)

The program's ongoing pilot implementation has more than 2,300 beneficiaries, taken from the one million households classified as the poorest, based on DSWD's Listahanan. Of these, 1,298 are in Tondo in Manila, and the rest are in San Mariano in Isabela, Dapa in Siargao, Garchitorena in Camarines Sur, and Parang Maguindanao, Dumlao said.

"This year, ang target ng DSWD is to scale up its implementation to cover 300,000 household beneficiaries," she added. These beneficiaries will come from other parts of the country.

Dumlao said since the Walang Gutom 2027, designed to last until 2027, is still under pilot implementation, they could not determine yet the impact of the program.

"But based on our monitoring, and base na rin doon sa ating pakikipag-dialogo or ating conversation with the beneficiaries particularly in Tondo, Manila, nababanggit nila na napakalaking tulong itong food stamp programa sa kanilang pamumuhay dahil natuturuan sila to prepare nutritious meals for their children," she said.

(But based on our monitoring, and based on our dialogue or conversation with the beneficiaries particularly in Tondo, Manila, they mentioned that the food stamp program is a big help because it helps them prepare nutritious meals for their children.)

"And in addition to that, nababanggit din nila na malaking tulong ang P3,000 food credits na natatanggap nila buwan-buwan dahil 'yan ay nakakatulong doon sa kanilang pagtawid araw-araw," Dumlao added.

(And in addition to that, the P3,000 food credits they receive monthly is a big help for them to see each day through.)

The DSWD official said the program's design calls for an increase later on of the P3,000 food credits.

"'Yan ang nasa program design. Hindi pa napag-uusapan ang pag-increase ng amount na tinatanggap  ng partner beneficiaries, but we are looking into that because there are proposed legislations to institutionalize the Food Stamp Program." she added.

(That is in the program design. There is no discussion yet on increasing the amount received by partner beneficiaries, but we are looking into that because there are proposed legislations to institutionalize the Food Stamp Program.)

4Ps

Meanwhile, asked if the government's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, also known as 4Ps, is effective in addressing hunger, Dumlao said yes.

"Being a program implementor, siyempre I will be biased. Siyempre effective ang 4Ps program. But there are impact studies that are currently being undertaken, and based na rin doon sa previous impact study ay sinasabi na gaining traction ang programa at nakaka-address rin ng mga issues na nabanggit," she said.

(Being a program implementor, of course I will be biased. Of course the 4Ps program is effective. But there are impact studies that are currently being undertaken, and based on the previous impact study, it says the program is gaining traction and the issues mentioned are being addressed.)

"But I'd like to believe that the program is still effective in terms of breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty. Because babalikan natin, ano ba yoong objective ng 4Ps program (if we look back, what is the objective of the 4Ps program)? It is to invest in the human capital particularly in the education and health of the children beneficiaries," Dumlao added.

"So batay doon sa mga pag-aaral, mga impact studies at mga researches na isinasaginagawa, sinasabing ang 4Ps nakakatulong sa edukasyon at kalusugan ng mga bata," the DSWD executive said.

(So based on the studies, impact studies, and researches being made, the 4Ps is helping improve the education and health of children.) —KG, GMA Integrated News

This article DSWD on latest SWS survey: Food stamp program to address hunger was originally published in GMA News Online.

2024-05-04T04:03:44Z dg43tfdfdgfd