End hunger in the Phl by 2027

On the third day in office at Malacañang Palace in July 2022, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) reminisced being asked in an interview how he wants to be remembered at the end of his six-year term. PBBM admitted he was a bit caught off-guard somehow by the question. PBBM retold this story as he enters the middle of his term that is ending on June 30, 2028 yet.

“And it was a question that I was not prepared for. It is a question that I had not actually thought about. But the answer came to me in an instant: Wala nang gutom. Wala nang gutom na Pilipino. That is my dream, no hungry Filipino,” PBBM quoted his retort in that interview. Digressing from his prepared speech, PBBM shared this to his audience attending the launch of the first “Walang Gutom” Awards launched by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at Malacañang last Wednesday.

The President issued Executive Order No. 44 in October last year establishing the “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program” as a flagship program of the national government. It seeks to primarily address hunger and stunting among children through providing monetary assistance for targeted beneficiaries to purchase food commodities from eligible merchant stores.

The DSWD, in collaboration with the Galing Pook Foundation, picked ten local government units (LGUs) as winners out of 17 finalists that were recognized for their successful anti-hunger initiatives and programs. Winners received P2 million worth of sustainable livelihood program funds while the finalists were given P1 million. For the rest of the 101 LGUs that submitted entries to the program, PBBM lauded and bestowed them the honorific title as “walang gutom champions” in the hearts and minds of their constituents.

Citing DSWD data, PBBM noted nearly 12 percent of Filipino families, or around three million households, are still experiencing hunger at least once over the last three months of 2022. One in three Filipino children under five years old is still suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition, he added.

Thus, the Chief Executive lamented the Philippines’ ranking in the Global Hunger Index was “far from ideal.” The Philippines scored 14.8 – a score that categorized our country as where its people are “moderately hungry.” This was even lower than the regional score of East and Southeast Asia of 8.2. The higher the score means more people go hungry in these countries. In the Global Hunger Index, African countries of Somalia, Burundi and South Sudan got 35 to 49.9 which is categorized as “alarming” cases of very high hunger incidence.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an agency of the United Nations, declares hunger is as much a cause as an effect of poverty. The FAO further sees hunger as the most extreme manifestation of poverty and human deprivation.

PBBM obviously acknowledges this FAO principle when he created last year the Office of Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation, or OPAPA for short. It’s almost a year after PBBM appointed suspended lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon as the head of this OPAPA. The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced the creation of the OPAPA on June 26 last year. Gadon, however, was nowhere in sight at the “Walang Gutom” awarding rites. I was told the OPAPA has its “own parallel anti-hunger programs.” Besides, he was on his regular TV show program at state-run PTV-4 called “Larry Gadon Live” every Wednesday morning.

Fortunately for the PBBM administration, a three-term Valenzuela City Mayor and three-term Congressman-now DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, heads the agency principally tasked to carry out the government’s anti-hunger programs and projects. According to him, the “Walang Gutom” program of the DSWD targets 300,000 beneficiaries who will each get P3,000 “food credits” every month in the first year. The DSWD targets for the second year of the program 600,000 beneficiaries; and one million beneficiaries by the third year.

“They can use that with their electronic benefit cards in accredited retailers – Kadiwa, coops, MSMEs (micro-small-medium enterprises),” Gatchalian explained.

In his speech after handing out the “Walang Gutom” Awards, the Chief Executive made an impassioned plea to help him achieve his dream to end hunger in the Philippines as the legacy of his administration. “I call upon our government and our partners from the private sector, from the non-profit organizations, our friends from the international community, citizens and Walang Gutom advocates to work together as a united front,” PBBM implored.

“If we are truly to succeed in this endeavor, we must put in a whole-of-nation approach to create a lasting solution to this great challenge,” PBBM urged.

The next day, PBBM embarked on a series of provincial trips to distribute financial aids under the newly created Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk and Families, or PAFFF for short. Accompanied by Gatchalian, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, and several other Cabinet members, PBBM first flew yesterday one after the other to San Jose, Antique; Bacolod, Negros Occidental; and the final stop in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

The PAFFF funds came from the Office of the President (OP), PBBM told his audience. Launched this year, the PAFFF is a direct cash subsidy government intervention program affected during the long drought period caused by the El Niño phenomenon. Each of the beneficiaries, which were pre-identified by the Department of Agriculture, received P10,000 cash subsidy. Farm machineries and equipment, fishing boats were also turned over to farmers and fishermen by PBBM and Agriculture Secretary Laurel.

Each provincial governments also received P50 million grants from the OP but were told they have 30 days to liquidate “for transparency” how they spent their monies. PBBM last week also led the distribution of PAFFF P12.48 million in financial aid to Surigao del Sur; P50 million to Agusan del Sur; P46.84 million to Butuan City; P28.26 million to Agusan del Norte; P10.57 million to Surigao del Norte and P10 million to Dinagat Islands.

It’s a lofty dream to end hunger by 2027, or a year before PBBM steps down from office. But will spending lots of these monies end hunger and alleviate poverty in the Philippines?