A STUDY conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) found that the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) “Walang Gutom” (No Hunger) Food Stamp program reduced involuntary hunger and food insecurity among beneficiaries.
Speaking at a Palace press briefing on Thursday, Roehlano Briones of SWS said the DSWD program reversed negative food security trends seen among non-beneficiaries. Food insecurity of non-beneficiary households increased by 1.4 percentage points, whereas “Walang Gutom” beneficiaries declined from 94 percent at baseline to 89.3 percent, a drop of 4.7 percentage points.
The study was conducted in two waves, from Feb. 24 to March 8, 2026, and from June to July 2026, with over 2,400 households participating.
Involuntary hunger rates among target beneficiaries also fell by 6.7 percentage points over three months, from 33.6 percent in the first round to 26.9 percent in the second.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said 600,000 Filipino households are enrolled in the program.
“This year, we target the remaining 150,000 [beneficiaries] to form the entire 750,000 food-poor families,” the DSWD chief explained, stressing that the target is based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s count classified as food-poor.
The program, launched in 2023 and institutionalized in 2024 through Executive Order No. 44, is the Philippine government's flagship anti-hunger program in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to address food insecurity and reduce involuntary hunger among Filipino families.
The DSWD chief said that the program is conditional, as beneficiaries need to undergo the Kalusugan, Kakayahan, and Kabuhayan (3K) sessions.
Under the 3K, the beneficiaries are provided with knowledge on nutrition as well as capacity-building and upskilling activities.
“This is a conditional program; whenever they redeem benefits, they attend sessions. These include sessions on nutritional development, where they are taught how to prepare meals that are affordable, nutritious, and delicious. We partner with DOLE and Tesda for skills upskilling to help them find employment, which is a requirement of the program," Gatchalian said.
