MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) efforts to end involuntary hunger have gained support from the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
During the MAP Membership General Meeting at the Shangri-La The Fort in Taguig City on Thursday, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian presented the Food Stamp Program (FSP), the DSWD’s priority anti-hunger initiative, to the management experts.
Gatchalian said the FSP’s target to end involuntary hunger “gels very well” with the mission of MAP, an organization of private companies with more than 1,100 members nationwide whose goal is to build a progressive future for the Philippines by advocating shared responsibility.
He discussed with MAP the overview of the FSP, including its key features, target beneficiaries, conditions and implementation plan to reduce malnutrition and child stunting in the country.
“We are going to use the food as currency, not cash as currency,” Gatchalian said.
He reiterated that FSP is not a dole-out program but a program seeking to provide food augmentation to one million households classified as “food poor” by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“We have to end human suffering, we have to end hunger not tomorrow, but right now,” he said.
Gatchalian underscored the importance of the “whole-of-nation approach” in the attainment of the desired outcome of the FSP.
“We are trying to reformat our social welfare. We want to make sure that every program we have is targeted, conditional, measurable, uses the whole of nation approach, and digital,” he said.
He called for the support of the officers and members of MAP in “ending human suffering by ending hunger.”
“Hopefully we can get to work with the MAP in an effective manner in trying to end involuntary hunger and stunting,” he said.
MAP president, Atty. Benedicta Du-Balabad, said the DSWD, the Department of Health (DOH), other agencies and MAP need to work together “in reversing malnutrition and child stunting and to provide a brighter future for the children.”
She stressed that, as experts in management, the organization can mobilize groups and private firms and maximize their resources to make collective efforts in addressing malnutrition and child stunting.
As a result of the series of meetings between Gatchalian and MAP representatives, the two parties are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The MAP will assist the DSWD in facilitating and determining the outcome of their activities to help gauge the efficacy of the program.
The MOU is in line with the DSWD’s effort to “engage the whole nation and society in addressing social problems,” Gatchalian said.
A recent 2023 second quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that at least 10.4 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.
The SWS, however, pointed out that the latest hunger rate was lower than 11.8 percent in December 2022. (PNA)
