Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian admitted on Thursday that the P3,000 worth of credits under the food stamp program was not enough.

Gatchalian said this in response to a query by Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas during the House Committee on Appropriations deliberations on the proposed 2024 national budget.

“May we know what is your basis for making it P3,000? Because you know, the truth is, with the rising prices of commodities, it would not be enough. For one family, it may only be good for two weeks,” Brosas said.

“We know that the food credits are not enough but our goal is merely supplemental, it’s meant to help them. But we could not give them the full amount because of the limited resources,” Gatchalian responded.

He said the agency got its data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which defines food-poor families as those earning below P8,000.

The food stamp program is still in the pilot stage and is fully funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through a $3-million grant, Gatchalian said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr led the pilot implementation of the food stamp program last July 18.

Gatchalian said that they are using the Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets as the source of food for the pilot testing of the program.

“At this point, we are using the Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets which are run by agricultural cooperatives. Part of this program is creating a whole farm-to-table ecosystem,” he said.

The DSWD aims to implement the program from 2023 to 2027.

The food stamp program aims to address hunger and poverty.

It will provide beneficiaries with electronic benefit transfer cards (EBT) that will be loaded with P3,000 worth of food credits that will allow them to purchase food from DSWD-accredited retailers.

Beneficiaries will include food-poor families from the DSWD’s Listahan 3 as well as pregnant and lactating women. Jaspearl Tan/DMS