THE administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is working on the implementation of the proposed “food stamps” of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Authority (DSWD) through an Official Development Assistance (ODA) financing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
On the sidelines of the ADB Reception at the bank’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday, the President said that the implementation of DSWD’s proposed “food stamps” program will be a big help for the less fortunate Filipinos.
President Marcos noted that it has been effective in other countries.
“One of the things that is in the pipeline, that is being developed, that is going to be of great assistance to our people, is a proposal by the DSWD for a food stamp program which, surprisingly, we have never had,” Marcos said.
“But it is something that we can look at. It has been effective in other countries,” the chief executive added.
President Marcos also highlighted “so many opportunities” that the ADB has provided to the Philippines as he emphasized that there is a partnership between the ADB and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on the agency’s digitalization of services and operations.
The chief executive said that the ADB has been an essential ally in the country’s development efforts as “they have been a robust and strong and reliable partner in the development of the Philippines.”
Marcos met with ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa along with other officials on Monday where they discussed some of the programs that were already implemented in the Philippines including those that are in the works.
He noted that the ADB is now the largest ODA financing of the Philippines as he emphasized that climate change adaptation and mitigation, and agricultural productivity are also among the initiatives being pursued between the Philippine government and the ADB.
“Now, the scope of the ODA assistance that we get through ADB has now increased. And we are talking about agriculture, we are talking about re-skilling and re-training. We are talking about, of course, climate change and its mitigation and adaptation efforts,” he said.
President Marcos also disclosed that he has been in discussion with Asakawa to develop further programs such as those discussed in the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in Indonesia including food and energy security and support for nano businesses and micro, small, and medium enterprises, and their integration into the global economy.
