No less than the President of the Republic of the Philippines, His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. who attended the launch of the Pilot implementation of the FOOD STAMP, at the Teatro Nan Dapa, Dapa, Surigao del Norte on September 29, 2023.

President Marcos is assisted by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian in the ceremonial distribution of the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards to the program’s beneficiaries. The President and the Secretary also witnessed the demonstration of the use of the EBT cards in purchasing nutritious food by the beneficiaries.

The Walang Gutom 2027: Food STAMP is the Administration’s model of intervention that aims to combat involuntary hunger among low-income households in the country, in which the Region is identified as pilot area since it belongs to the Extreme Affected Weather category.

 

Through the program, beneficiaries will be provided food credits worth Php3,000.00 for a maximum of 6 months. 600 beneficiaries are identified for Caraga for 3 areas, namely, Dapa, Sta. Monica, Del Carmen in the province of Surigao del Norte. 50 beneficiaries were present for the kickoff in Dapa. Qualified beneficiaries are those identified as food poor through the Listahanan 3 Database, prioritizing families with children 0-5 years old, single-parents, pregnant, and lactating mothers.

 

The program is co-implemented by World Food Programme (WFP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The program was designed using a whole-of-government approach to address the involuntary hunger that millions of Filipinos are experiencing.

 

DSWD Field Office Caraga will work with other government agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture, Philippine Statistics Authority, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, and the Technical Skills and Development Authority in the pilot implementation of the program.