President Marcos is expecting the hunger rate among beneficiaries of a government’s assistance program to decline further with the expansion of an initiative intended to address food insecurity and undernutrition.
About 200 beneficiaries of the Walang Gutom Program met with Marcos during the launch of the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers or REFUEL project in Manila yesterday.
The project aims to expand the coverage of the Walang Gutom Program, which provides P3,000 in monthly electronic food credits to each of the 300,000 beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries of the program can use their monthly credits to buy food in accredited partner retailers.
Under REFUEL, the number of food-poor households that are receiving aid will be increased to 600,000 next year.
Citing a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations and commissioned by Globe and Monde Nissin, Marcos said the hunger rate among household-beneficiaries decreased from 48.7 percent in October last year to 41.5 percent in March due to the Walang Gutom Program.
‘By 2027, we can increase (the number of beneficiaries) to 750,000 families. Our aim is to reach one million,’ Marcos said. ‘We will ensure that all our needy countrymen will be covered by the program.’
Marcos thanked the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement and the OPEC Fund for supporting the REFUEL project.
He vowed to continue working to achieve the administration’s goal of raising the quality of life of the poor.