THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board on Thursday approved a P74.6-billion food stamp project of the Social Welfare department that will give poor Filipino families monthly food vouchers.
The Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) program aims to provide food-poor families with a monthly voucher worth P3,000.
“By approving the REFUEL project, the government demonstrates its unwavering commitment to fight food insecurity and undernutrition,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement after the final meeting of the NEDA Board before it is renamed as the Economy and Development Council.
NEDA was reorganized as the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) under Republic Act No. 12145.
The agency said the REFUEL program would target 750,000 food-insecure households under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) database, while also covering the same set of beneficiaries under the previous Walang Gutom (No Hunger) program.
The REFUEL program will run from July this year to July 2028.
“The program reflects a renewed focus toward ending involuntary hunger, uplifting vulnerable communities and promoting resilience through smart, nutrition-sensitive social protection,” Mr. Balisacan said.
The program is an enhancement of the DSWD’s pilot Philippine Food Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (STAMP), rolled out last year.
The REFUEL program is funded by the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development.
“The project’s goal is to strengthen our shock-responsive social protection systems by ensuring the timely delivery of food vouchers to Filipinos in need, particularly those facing hunger and nutritional challenges in the face of increasing climate and disaster risks,” he said.
Three of 10 Filipino households experience moderate to severe food insecurity and three of 100 households face severe food insecurity, according to the Department of Science and Technology’s national nutrition survey.
Mr. Balisacan said the REFUEL program could boost human capital in line with the government’s goal of improving basic and functional literacy.
At the same meeting, the NEDA Board also approved the increased project cost for the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s (MWSS) New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam project to P15.3 billion from P12.2 billion.
It also approved a change in the project scope, and the extension of the loan validity and implementation period.
Kaliwa Dam can provide an additional 600 million liters of raw water per day for the National Capital Region, Rizal and Cavite. As of December 2024, it had a construction rate of 24.8%.
The dam is funded through a $211-million loan agreement between the MWSS and Export-Import Bank of China executed in November 2018. The project was previously scheduled for completion by 2026 and for operations by 2027.
It is expected to ease the demand on Angat Dam, from which Metro Manila gets about 90% of its water supply. — Adrian H. Halili