P74.6B food stamp project approved for poor families

On Thursday, April 24, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., approved a P74.6-billion food stamp project for poor Filipino families.

The Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) program aims to provide monthly food vouchers worth P3,000 to 750,000 food-insecure households identified through the DSWD's Listahanan database from July 2025 to July 2028.

Undersecretary Edu Punay of the DSWD’s Innovations, Programs, and Development Group highlighted that REFUEL will build on the gains from the pilot implementation of the Walang Gutom Program (WGP) and aims to reach a total of 750,000 food-poor households by 2027.

The program not only addresses hunger but also builds long-term resilience through complementary activities like social behavior change sessions and livelihood skills training, helping poor households move towards self-sufficiency.

Supported by the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the OPEC Fund for International Development, REFUEL is designed to support the national scale-up of the WGP with stronger implementation systems and enhanced digital infrastructure.