The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported over the weekend that 9,116 families from the Bicol Region have already benefited from the Walang Gutom Program (WGP).

According to DSWD Field Office 5-Bicol Region WGP coordinator Sherryl Lofamia, these beneficiaries are from the provinces of Sorsogon and Camarines Sur who have already claimed their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards from August to September this year.

“Each household beneficiary was able to utilize P3,000 worth of food credits. With these, they were able to put healthy meals on the table,” WGP coordinator Lofamia said.

The program coordinator explained that P3,000 food credits loaded into the EBT cards of the household beneficiaries can be used to buy high-nutrition food items from the DSWD’s partner merchants. Recipients are required to allocate 50 percent of the credit for carbohydrates, 30 percent for protein, and 20 percent for fiber-rich foods.

“They will receive a monthly credit of P3,000 for 3 years until 2027,” WGP coordinator Lofamia pointed out.

DSWD’s WGP, created through Executive Order 44, is the national government’s anti-hunger and poverty reduction program aimed at decreasing the incidence of involuntary hunger experienced by Filipinos from low-income households.