President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. eyes collaborating with the Asian Development Bank in implementing a nationwide food stamp program to help Filipinos get a financial boost.

The Chief Executive said this on the sidelines of his visit at the ADB headquarters in Mandaluyong after a meeting with ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa where they tackled some of the programs that are already being implemented and those that are in the pipeline.

Marcos said the food stamp program is currently “being developed,” based on the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s or DSWD proposal. “One of the things that is in the pipeline, that is being developed, that is going to be of great assistance to our people is the proposal by the DSWD for a food stamp program,” Marcos told the reporters.

Effective scheme

“I’m surprised that we have never had, but it is something that we can see that has been effective in other countries,” he added.

Based on a 2022 ADB report, Mongolia successfully used a comparable program to effectively identify and support the most economically disadvantaged individuals in the country.

In February, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian expressed his intention to reintroduce the food coupons or food stamp program as a means to combat hunger among poor Filipinos.

Gatchalian suggested that the DSWD could leverage the involvement of the private sector to accomplish this objective.
However, Marcos did not provide more details about the plan.
But he said the government continues to pursue “large-scale” programs with the ADB.

“Traditionally, ADB has provided assistance to infra, now the scope of the ODA assistance that we get through ADB has now increased and we are now talking about agriculture, we are talking about reskilling and retraining, we’re talking about climate change and its mitigation and adaptation…,” he said.