ILOILO City – The national government’s Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program will now benefit food-poor families in Iloilo and Antique provinces, in addition to those in Negros Occidental.
The program aims to reduce involuntary hunger among families listed under the Listahanan 3 of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTRS-PR).
Involuntary hunger is a condition where individuals or families experience hunger due to the lack of means to secure food.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 director Arwin Razo said the decision to expand the program is due to the inability meeting the allocated target of 43,021 beneficiaries for Negros Occidental alone, as set by the DSWD Central Office.
The region has allocated a total of 28,124 beneficiaries for Negros Occidental. However, after rigorous validation, only 17,389 individuals were included in the clean list.
Of these, 16,426 beneficiaries have redeemed their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards since August or September 2024, leaving a variance of 963 individuals who will receive their cards in the coming weeks.
To meet the regional target, DSWD will allocate 10,560 beneficiaries to Iloilo province and 4,337 beneficiaries to Antique.
According to Razo, validation of selected beneficiaries is ongoing, with the department aiming to complete the process and begin benefit redemption within the year.
“Hopefully, we can start the redemption as soon as the validation is completed. This is part of our effort to alleviate involuntary hunger in the region,” Razo stated.
He added that while the program targets 43,021 beneficiaries, a lower number of recipients would indicate fewer families experiencing involuntary hunger.
The Walang Gutom Program provides beneficiaries with EBT cards loaded with P3,000 per month for purchasing food items from partner merchants, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), supermarkets, and KADIWA outlets. Only food items recommended by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) are eligible for purchase.
To ensure the program’s effective implementation, the Walang Gutom National Program Management Office oversees operations and harmonizes initiatives to meet its objectives.
The program excludes beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as stipulated in the guidelines./PN
