The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced a significant milestone in the country’s fight against involuntary hunger, citing the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that hunger prevalence among Filipino families has dropped by 7.2 percent over the past six months.
Asst. Secretary Baldr Bringas of the DSWD’s Innovations and Program Development Group (IPDG) reported that the latest survey reflects the effectiveness of the agency’s interventions in addressing hunger such as the Walang Gutom Program (WGP).
“Ayon sa SWS survey, bumaba ang hunger prevalence from 48.7 percent in October 2024 to 44.6 percent in December 2024. Nandito ako ngayon para i-report sa inyo ang much better news. According to the recent SWS survey conducted last March, the prevalence of hunger further went down to 41.5 percent. Meaning, totalling tayo ng 7.2% drop in prevalence of hunger,” Asst. Secretary Bringas said in an interview on Saturday (September 6) over DZMM’s ‘Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan!’
The positive results of the SWS survey, as mentioned by the Asst. Secretary Bringas, translates to real improvements in the lives of Filipino households.
“So, ang ibig sabihin nito is lesser na ang families going to bed hungry and more families are putting food on their table. Base sa result na ito, we can confidently say na the program is working at yung mga interventions na ginagawa ng departamento upang tugunan ang problema ng kagutuman ay effective,” Asst. Secretary Bringas pointed out.
The WGP, recognized as a flagship program of the Marcos administration under Executive Order No. 44, is the country’s version of the food stamp program in other countries.
The WGP was carefully designed in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to align with international standards.
“Isa itong programa na inilunsad ng DSWD alinsunod sa utos ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na tugunan ang problema ng kagutuman. Itong programang ito ay carefully designed to align with international standards, katuwang ang ADB at and WFP,” Asst. Secretary Bringas explained.
Currently, the WGP is serving 300,000 families nationwide.
With the encouraging SWS survey results, the DSWD is now gearing up to reach another 300,000 households this year, and another 150,000 by 2026.
“So currently we are serving 300,000. At dahil sa positive result ng recent survey ng SWS, we are gearing for the onboarding of the next 300,000 para ma-complete natin ang 600,000 na target natin for this year,” Asst. Secretary Bringas said.
The ‘Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan’ airs every Saturday from 11 am to 12 noon over DZMM Radyo 630 and is anchored by veteran broadcaster Alvin Elchico and cohosted by Jet Guevara of the DSWD’s Public Relations Service
(PRS). (YADP)
