The DSWD launched 'Walang Gutom Kitchen' in Pasay City. Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Food bank

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1735880926354173433593106320241216071228_Ge5Kg58a8AACiQo.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The DSWD launched &#x27;Walang Gutom Kitchen&#x27; in Pasay City. <em>Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday said it was meeting with other government offices to convert select POGO hubs into food banks as they embark on an ambitious goal to &quot;end hunger&quot; in the Philippines by 2027. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/16/dswd-launches-food-bank-to-address-involuntary-hunger-and-food-wastage-2258">DSWD launches food bank to address involuntary hunger and food wastage</a></div><p>DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said addressing hunger was among the 3 topics they would discuss with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.  next week during the first Cabinet meeting of the year.</p><p>&quot;We wanna make sure that we end hunger by 2027 hopefully... No administration has been bold enough to say they wanna end hunger,&quot; Gatchalian told ANC&#x27;s Headstart.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/28/walang-gutom-1434">Food stamp program targets 1 million poorest Filipinos</a></div><p>Gatchalian said that programs to combat hunger yielded successful results, particularly the food stamp, which they would scale up this year.</p><p>&quot;The pilot&#x27;s already done and we&#x27;re already scaling up... The pilot tells us that it is effective. [But there are] policy recommendations as to improving the meal proportions, per capita cost,&quot; he said.</p><p>The program is being implemented in the top 21 poorest, hungriest, most stunted provinces in the country, Gatchalian said.</p><p>They are eyeing to scale up the project to 600,000 beneficiaries this year after identifying 300,000 last year.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>POGOS TO FOOD BANKS?</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, Gatchalian said negotiations were ongoing to transform other defunct POGO sites into food banks since &quot;rent is free, we [simply] renovate it a little.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/16/dswd-opens-first-food-bank-in-ph-1600">DSWD opens food bank</a></div><p>&quot;We&#x27;re looking at sites but we are targeting the other POGO centers. We&#x27;re currently working with our friends over at PAOCC to make sure we get an inventory of where else we can set up soup kitchen,&quot; he said.</p><p>Gatchalian set 2 criteria to determine whether a POGO site is qualified to be converted as a food bank.</p><p>&quot;We are doing needs assessment to make sure these areas are suitable and are accessible. There are two things we wanna look at. Are these facilities up to speed and are they located in areas that can easily be reached by our hungry families,&quot; he said.</p><p>Gatchalian cited the success of a food bank that opened in a former POGO center in Pasay City. The facility has so far served around 5,000 to 6,000 families since opening last December 16, he said.</p><p>Under the public-private initiative, restaurants, hotels, and fast-food chains can donate their surplus food to be fed to hungry families and individuals. </p><p>&quot;Daily we average around 600 [meals], there are days we do around 800 meals served, and we are thankful to the private sectors,&quot; Gatchalian said.</p><p>The DSWD Secretary said he would meet potential private sector parters to improve the operation of the food bank.</p><p>Research company Social Weather Stations found out that the rate of involuntary hunger in the country rose in the third quarter of 2024, at 22.9 percent. This means more than 2 in every 10 Filipinos has experienced hunger.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_66z2J5OdY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said negotiations are ongoing to transform other defunct POGO sites into food banks.</p>

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said negotiations are ongoing to transform other defunct POGO sites into food banks.

DSWD eyes more POGO hubs as food banks in fight to 'end hunger' by 2027 | ABS-CBN

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DSWD eyes more POGO hubs as food banks in fight to 'end hunger' by 2027

DSWD eyes more POGO hubs as food banks in fight to 'end hunger' by 2027

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 03, 2025 01:28 PM PHT

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