President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday expressed elation over the government’s relentless efforts to address food poverty in the country.

This was after Marcos was briefed about the decline in the number of food-poor Filipinos during a sectoral meeting with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at Malacañan Palace in Manila.

“We are doing a better job of feeding people who need it,” Marcos said after getting an update on the implementation of the Food Stamp Program (FSP).

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian told Marcos that the number of food-poor families slid by 300,000 to 700,000 from one million FSP beneficiaries.

The data was based on the files released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2023, showing the drop in the number of food-poor families from one million in 2021 to 700,000 in 2023.

“When we designed this (FSP), it was at one million. So, dahil bumaba na po siya we have leg room doon sa area na ‘yun,” Gatchalian said during the meeting.

Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) 44 in 2023, establishing the “Walang Gutom: 2027: Food Stamp Program” as a flagship program of the national government through the DSWD to address involuntary hunger experienced by low-income households in the country.

The FSP benefitted 2,366 households during its pilot implementation from December 2023 to July 2024, providing eligible families with PHP3,000 worth of food credits monthly through an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card which can be used to purchase select food items at Kadiwa stalls and authorized retail stores.

As of Oct. 16, the program has 182,771 verified beneficiaries, 89,772 of which have already redeemed their food.

The government is eyeing the expansion of the program to cover an additional 300,000 household beneficiaries in 2025 and another 400,000 in 2026 in 10 regions and 22 provinces.

The Marcos administration’s goal is to support one million food-poor households by 2027. (PNA)