Manila: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has initiated the enrollment of an additional 300,000 household beneficiaries into the Walang Gutom Program (WGP), a significant anti-poverty effort under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

According to Philippines News Agency, Undersecretary Edu Punay of the DSWD’s Innovation and Program Development Group (IPDG) revealed that the inclusion of these new beneficiaries will meet the target of 600,000 households for the current year. Punay stated in a radio interview that since last year, the program has already served 300,000 households across 22 provinces from 10 regions. With the new enrollments, DSWD aims to serve a total of 600,000 households spanning 12 regions before the end of the year.

Punay explained that the expansion was facilitated by funds from an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan agreement, part of the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) Project. He noted that the national government’s allocation of PHP1.9 billion under the General Appropriations Act was adequate to support only 50,000 beneficiaries annually. Consequently, economic managers pursued and secured a loan agreement with ADB to extend the program’s reach.

The DSWD’s REFUEL project, executed in partnership with ADB, Agence Fran§aise de D©veloppement (AFD), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), aims to assist 750,000 households across 22 provinces. It provides each household with PHP3,000 in monthly food credits, redeemable at DSWD-accredited stores for nutritious food items.

Punay emphasized the program’s success, referencing Social Weather Stations (SWS) findings. According to the SWS survey, hunger incidence among WGP beneficiaries fell by 7.2 percent over six months, from October 2024 to March 2025. Data showed a decrease in involuntary hunger among beneficiaries from 48.7 percent in October 2024 to 41 percent in March 2025.