More than 41,000 new beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Walang Gutom Program (WGP) have availed of affordable and nutritious food items from partner merchants and retailers during the simultaneous first redemption day held nationwide from 3 to 22 January.

“Since its pilot implementation, Secretary Rex Gatchalian has been announcing the scale up plan for the WGP. Now, they are on their first redemption day, buying vegetables, fruits and other nutritious food for their families,” Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said Monday.

These beneficiaries used their P3,000 food credits loaded in their Electronic Benefit Transfer card during their first redemption day.

They are among the first 300,000 households that form part of the target 750,000 WGP household-beneficiaries.

The remaining beneficiaries who have not joined the redemption days are expected to avail the affordable and nutritious food from 10 to 28 February, depending on the schedule of the redemption day in their areas.

In a recent interview, Secretary Gatchalian said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed to review the current amount of food credits and assess if there is a need to adjust them.

The DSWD’s WGP, institutionalized as the government’s flagship anti-hunger program through Executive Order No. 44, was pilot tested in 2023 with over 2,000 household-beneficiaries across the country.