Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 19) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday said it will soon start its food stamp program that aims to help one million Filipino families who are classified as food poor.
“By July, August, we are going to do a pilot that is fully funded by the Asian Development Bank, $3 million, to identify three sites. Basta 3,000 families ang magiging pilot beneficiaries natin (3,000 families will be part of our pilot beneficiaries.),” DSWD Sec. Rex Gatchalian told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
He noted the pilot implementation will run for six months for 3,000 families who have a monthly income of ₱8,000 or less. The program will then be gradually expanded to include up to one million families.
During this period, the DSWD and the Philippine Statistics Authority will also continuously vet the list of beneficiaries to ensure that only those who will need this type of assistance will be covered, Gatchalian said. Once the final list is established, grievances may be filed, which will be reviewed by the department, he noted.
“By early part of next year, summer of next year, we do 300,000 and then 300,000 until we reach the 1-million mark,” Gatchalian said.
The DSWD chief said a program beneficiary can only stay as long as four years in the program. A clear exit mechanism for the beneficiaries has been set, which will involve evaluators from local government units personally visiting the households to assess their progress, he explained.
