Secretary Rex Gatchalian of the Department of Social Welfare and Development speaks to the media during the “Kapihan sa Manila Bay” on June 7, 2023 | PHOTO: INQUIRER.net / Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Guided by experts from the United Nations’ World Food Program, the country’s welfare department has decided to test run its digital food stamp program for 3,000 families across three areas with varying “modalities”: the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a local government unit in Caraga, and either a mountain or island municipality that is still up in the air.
“We’re still fine tuning it kasi nasa loob pa kami ng design stage, but ang na-identify ng World Food Program will be dapat, iba-ibang anyo na lugar,” explained Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Rex Gatchalian at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday.
(We’re still fine-tuning it as we are in the design stage, but the World Food Program has identified that the pilot should be run in places with different characteristics.)
BARMM was selected because it is a “former conflict area” with a high poverty incidence; the Caraga LGU was chosen as it is a calamity-stricken area; and the unselected municipality will serve as the DSWD’s food stamp test run for other geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas of the country.
Gatachalian added that the department is also studying how the food stamp program can best service urban poor clusters.
“[We know that] pockets of poverty are in urban centers,” he said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided USD3 million to fund the program’s six-month pilot, assisting the DSWD in “implementing” its program design, according to Gatchalian.
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“After six months, hopefully, we can grow it to 300,000. And then another 300,000… Hopefully, one million in one year… We want to do it systematically and in the right way,” he added.
DSWD has previously reported that, in order to assist its target of one million food-poor households, it needs a total budget of about P40 billion.
Besides ADB assistance, Albay Solon Rep. Joey Salceda has recommended sourcing funds from sweetened beverage tax revenues as well as from a proposed tax on junk food.
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Each eligible food poor household will receive P3,000 in food credits monthly under the DSWD’s stamp program.
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