The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made inroads in addressing involuntary hunger and malnutrition by serving last year 300,000 Filipinos out of the one-million target under the “Walang Gutom Food Stamp Program,” a social welfare official said on Saturday.

The Marcos administration introduced the program in 2023. It provides PhP3,000 monthly food credits for food-poor Filipinos nationwide.

“We’re scaling it up, last year we already on-boarded 300,000 out of the one-million target so tuluy-tuloy iyon,” Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Edu Punay said in a news forum in Quezon City.

“Target noon is to address involuntary hunger talaga, iyong mga kababayan nating mahihirap, pinakamahihirap na hindi kumakain nang sapat sa isang araw ? ibig sabihin, kumakain once or twice a day lang, hindi kumpleto iyong kanilang pagkain,” he added.

“And so, the government’s intervention is to provide meal, meal for entire month ? one meal per day for one month dito sa mga pamilyang ating na-assess as food-poor,” Punay said.

According to Punay, the DSWD will be serving another 300,000 beneficiaries this year and 400,000 more in 2026 to complete DSWD’s target.

Punay said the agency also launched last month the Walang Gutom Kitchen, the government’s first-ever food bank/soup kitchen collaboration with the private sector that provides hot meals to hungry people on the streets

The partnership involves the “Kain Tayo Pilipinas,” an organization of private companies with common corporate social responsibility programs to provide food assistance to the poor.

The program targets Families and Individuals in Street Situation (FISS). It also helps low-income construction workers, employees and residents lacking food allocation.

“Anyone na basta nagugutom ? mayroon din iyong mga construction worker na mga low income, walang pambili ng pagkain, iyong mga empleyadong low income, mga residente na walang pambili ng pagkain. They can just walk in there. Open iyong kitchen to everyone na nagugutom,” Punay said. Presidential News Desk