Photo by Marhom Ibrahim
COTABATO CITY — Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian paid a courtesy visit to Bangsamoro Government Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim on Friday, August 4, to introduce Food Stamp Program (FSP), the national government’s newest intervention to combat hunger.
The program aims to provide food augmentation to 1-million families who are “food-poor” as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority. Each of the families will be given Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards loaded with food credits amounting to P3,000.
Sec. Gatchalian said that FSP is a tool to mitigate hunger and poverty of poor families and vulnerable sectors. He mentioned that the program will also prioritize lactating and pregnant women.
“In the electronic benefit card, hindi po cash ang matatanggap nila pagkat sa card nakapag-figure ito ng food credits […] we’re going to give them food credits,” the secretary said.
For the program’s pilot implementation from October 2023 until March 2024, DSWD has chosen the Bangsamoro region as one of its five pilot sites, with a total of 600 family beneficiaries.
“We see that (this program) will be very significant, in the sense that it is targeting not only the basic needs but the real necessity of everybody,”said CM Ebrahim.
DSWD will coordinate with the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) for the selection of initial beneficiaries in the BARMM.
Also present during Friday’s activity were DWSD’s Undersecretary Alan Tanjusay and Assistant Secretary Baldr Bringas, DSWD XII Director Loreto Jr. Cabaya, BARMM Senior Minister Abunawas Maslamama, MSSD Minister Atty. Raissa Jajurie, and World Food Program Deputy Country Director Dipayan Bhattacharyya. (Myrna S. Tepadan/BIO)