Food stamp program
THE national government’s decision to scale up its multi-pronged food stamp program (FSP) next year is without doubt a most welcome relief for households across the country.
A family with a monthly income below P8,000 is condidered as a food-poor household.
Under the program, a beneficiary household gets an electronic transfer card loaded with P3,000 worth of food credits, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Reports said the food credits can be used by the beneficiary household to buy or purchase selected essential commodities from DSWD-accredited retailers in the community.
DSWD Undersecretary Edu Punay said the “Walang Gutom 2027” pilot run for the pro-poor program has an initial 3,000 beneficiary households. The pilot run is scheduled to end in May 2024.
“Come next year, we’ll have the full implementation of the program, which targets one million households nationwide. When we scale up next year, there will be 300,000 beficiaries,” said Punay.
The DSWD started the pilot test among 100 food-poor households in Tondo, Manila and Dapa, Siargao in July. The full scale pilot implementation begins in December.
The program will be given a P6-billion working budget in the General Appropriations Act after President Marcos tagged it as one of the flagship programs of his administration.
