MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recognized on Wednesday Local Government Units (LGUs) with exceptional anti-hunger initiatives.
In his speech during the ‘Walang Gutom Awards’ in Malacañan, President Marcos acknowledged the important role of LGUs that have better knowledge and insights on the incidence of hunger in their localities
They may even have better programs, strategies, or approaches to address hunger, he said.
“And that is why, today, we confer the Walang Gutom Awards or the WGA to recognize the local governments that have been exceptional in addressing hunger in their communities,” President Marcos said.
Seventeen LGUs were shortlisted. Of the figure, 10 received the awards.
The awardees are barangays Commonwealth, Quezon City, and Naggasican, Santiago City, along with the municipalities of Asuncion, Davao del Norte; Palompon, Leyte; and Bacnotan, La Union.
The city of Kidapawan in Cotabato is also one of the awardees along with the cities of Bago, Cadiz, Mati, and the province of Biliran.
At least PhP2 million worth of Sustainable Livelihood Program Funds were given to winners while the remaining finalists received PhP1 million.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in collaboration with the Galing Pook Foundation (GPF), launched the WGA, an initiative to recognize and promote LGUs with successful programs to combat hunger.
President Marcos said the 17 finalists were evaluated on the criteria of impact, inclusivity, innovation, resilience, sustainability, and efficiency.
“I thank the Galing Pook Foundation and the DSWD, led by Secretary Rex Gatchalian, for coming up with this initiative,” President Marcos said in his speech.
“To all the seventeen finalists of this year’s Walang Gutom Awards, I salute you! Each of you has already won and included in this prestigious list of nominees,” the chief executive emphasized, as he acknowledged all 101 LGUs that joined the program.
President Marcos lauded the LGUs’ proactive involvement in the program, especially in the national government’s initiative to end hunger that has been causing suffering to the vulnerable and marginalized Filipinos for many decades.
“Indeed, we need more LGUs like you to achieve our mission of “Walang Gutom” by 2027 and I pray that this year’s awards will also spur and inspire other LGUs to replicate your successes across the country,” he said.
Citing DSWD data, President Marcos said nearly 12 percent of Filipino families, or around three million households experienced hunger at least once over the last three months of 2022 while one in three Filipino children under five years old is also suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition.
The President said the Philippine ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) is also far from ideal, with the country scoring 14.8 or moderately hunger, which fares below the regional score of East and Southeast Asia at 8.2
“We are aware of the challenges that we face, but we see the potential to change our situation,” President Marcos said.
President Marcos also recognized the efforts of both the public and private sectors to address hunger as he highlighted the signing of the Executive Order No. 44 last October, creating the ‘Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program.”
The program is implemented by the DSWD to provide monetary assistance for targeted beneficiaries to purchase food commodities from eligible partner merchant stores, among others. (PND)
