Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
|9TH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session
HbusEBILLNo.8899
a
RECEIVED
=     DATEil`5  AU6
Introduced by Representative Dante S. Garcia
EXPLANATORY NOTH
The ancient Roman proverb, "Healthy mind in a healthy body" holds true even in this
modem times, with our body and health condition affecting not just our mood and
emotions, but our overall day-to-day activities and functions.
Thus, the right to adequate food and proper nutrition is a basic human right enshrined
in the 1987 Constitution. It is, after all, the duty of the State to address -and ultimately
end - malnutrition and provide the citizenry access to nutritious food.
The newly created program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development,
whose target is to address the nutrition needs of the poor families, as well as pregnant
a;nd  lzftyct2rd"8  wormen,  drtljbed  Walang  Gutom  2027:   The  Philippine  Food  Stamp
Prog7.czm,  is  in  line  with the  President's  Philippine  Development  Agenda  aimed  at
addressing involuntary hunger among the poorest of the poor families.
Also mentioned during the President's SONA 2023, the program will also employ a
whole-of-nation approach by espousing inter-agency partnership to contribute to the
different components of the program which air to train, capacitate, and eventually
employ beneficiaries.
Its implementation is patterned after World Food Program's SCOPE Platform to gather
beneficiaries' pertinent data, monitor the program's progress, transfer the benefits, and
designed to build the family's capacity to become productive members of the society.
For this purpose,  this  bill  seeks  to  institutionalize  the  Food  Stamp  Program  of the
DSWD to decrease involuntary hunger incidence in the short and medium term, and
end poverty and malnutrition altogether in the long term.
foregoing, the approval of this measure is earnestly sought.
D
ARCIA


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Nineteenth Congress
Second Regular Session
I.                                8899
HOUSE BILL NO.
Introduced by Representative Dante S. Garcia
1                                                                   AN ACT
2     STREINGHTENING    THE    FoOD    sTAMp    pROGRAn¢    OF    THH
3     DEPARTMENT  OF  SOCIAL WELFARE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  AND
4     APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
5
6     Be it enacted by the senate and the House of Representatives of the philippines,
7      in congress assembled:
8
9                 SECTION 1.  Sfoo" rl.J/c. -This Act shall be known as the  "Foodsr¢mp
1o      Ac',„
11                 SEC. 2.  DccJ¢ra/I.o" a/Po/I.cjJ. -It is the policy of the state to value the
12      dignity  of every  human  person  and  guarantee  full  respect  for  human  rights.
13      Towards this end, the State shall provide its citizenry with access to adequate
14     nutritious food through projects, programs and other services to uplift the socio
15      and economic rights of the marginalized and indigent persons.
16                 SEC. 3.   Food sf¢xp AssJ.sfance /FSIAJ. -There is hereby established a
17      program to mitigate involuntary hunger experienced by low-income households


1      identified as "Food poo7~ Housefeo/ds" and make them productive citizens of the
2      country to be known as the  "Fooc7 S/cr"p.4ssz.sfcz#ce rHSJ4J " hereinafter referred
3     to  as the FSA Program.   Under the FSA Program, the Department of Social
4      Welfare   and   Development   (DSWD)   shall,   after   careful   assessment   and
5      evaluation, provide a cash-based assistance in the form of an Electronic Benefit
6     Transfer (EBT) Card that will be loaded with a speciflc amount to purchase a
7      select  list  of  food  commodities  from  partner  merchant  store/s.   The  FSA
8      highlights  a  mechanism  for  the  delivery  of  social  protection  interventions
9     through the use of digital platforms to access food.
1o                 For purposes of this Act,   "FoocJ Poor z7oz/sefoo/ds " refer to persons who
11      are  indigent  and  financially  incapacitated beneficiaries.  Beneficiaries  shall  be
12      selected on a per household in which at least one member of the family  is of
13     working  age  or  presence  of  a  pregnant  or  lactating  woman.   The  list  of
14     beneficiaries  shall be taken from the bottom one (1) million households from
15     the Listahanan 3  generated through the National Household Targeting  System
16      for poverty Reduction.
T]                 S;EC. 4.         Ideutifiication    and   Selection    Of   Beneficiaries.        -The
18      following  are  the  steps  for  the  identification  of beneficiaries,  to  wit:     (1)
19      Uploading of potential beneficiaries to  SCOPE Registration Module using the
2o     Listahanan  3  data  based  on  the  criteria  under  the  FSA  Program;  (2)  Pre-
21     generation of list of potential beneficiaries for field verification and validation;
22      and (3) Identified beneficiaries will be eurolled in the FSA program.
2


1                SEC. 5.  Esid program compo#c"ts. -The following are the components
2      oftheFSAprogram:
3                 a.        Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
4                            The FSA program will make use ofEBT cards as digital means for
5      the   provision   of  food  to   beneficiaries   through   cash-based   assistance,   in
6     collaboration with partner merchants  such  as  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises
7      (SMEs), supermarkets, and Kadiwa, among others. The EBT cards can be used
8     to  purchase  various  food  items  as  recommended  by  the  Food  and  Nutrition
9      Research Institute (FNRI).
io                 EBT will be distributed to either of the identified primary and secondary
11      holders in each of the households.
12                 For the initial implementation of the FSA program, the DSWD will adopt
13     the scopE platform, a web-based application developed by the united Nations-
14     World  Food  Program  used  for  beneficiary  registrations,  intervention  setups,
15      distribution planning, transfers, and distribution reporting.
16                 The EBT shall include the following sub-components, to wit:
17                 a.1.     Retailer Management
18                            Active  participation  of  the  partner  merchants   in  the  program
19      implementation is paramount to ensure that household beneficiaries have access
2o     to food. To be able to do this, inventory of merchants has to be updated on a
21     regular  basis  which  shall  be  monitored  through  SCOPE  platform  or  other
22     DSWD authorized platform. An inventory of merchants in the target program
3


1      areas    shall    be    done    for    possible    partnership    in    the    FSA    Program
2      implementation.
3                 a.2.     Beneficiary Data Management
4                 A beneficiary  list will be generated based on the process of beneficiary
5      information   management   throuch   the   SCOPE   Platform   or   other   DSWD
6     authorized  platform.  The  National  Household  Targeting  System  for  Poverty
7      Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan shall be utilized by the DSWD to validate
8     pre-identified household beneficiaries based  on the  standard  targeting  system
9      for purposes ofbeneficiary eligibility and deduplication process.
10
11
12        Wit:
13
14
15
16
17
a.3.    Compliance Monitoring
Qualified household beneficiaries need to comply with the following, to
1.        Attendance to ladderized nutrition education and productivity `
enhancement sessions.
2.        Participation in job facilitation/livelihood activities.
a.4.    Benerit Transfer and Reconciliation
The   SCOPE   or  DSWD   authorized  platform   will   be   used  to   send
18     necessary information between the DSWD and local merchants to facilitate the
19      monetary-based assistance transfers and documents for reporting. In a scenario
2o     where  there  are  no  available  internet  connections,  the  SCOPE  or  DSWD
21     platform  can  be  deployed  in  combination with  WFP-built  electronic  voucher
22      delivery mechanism. Beneficiaries may use the EBT cards to purchase food in
4


1      select retail locations, and top-ups to the cards can be made for new distribution
2      cycles. When retailers sync their devices to the platform, the information can be
3      used  for  the  reconciliation  and  payment process.  Data  can  also  be  used  for
4     monitoring and reporting. Fingerprints are stored on the cards and retailers can
5     verify the beneficiary identity throust the biometric at the time of purchase to
6      ensure the intended person is the one using the card. The steps on verification,
7      validation and deduplication process will be reflected in the methodology.
8                SEC. 6.        E#¢b/i."g a/EBr cards. -Upon compliance of the required
9      attendance to the Nutrition Education session, the distributed EBT cards will be
1o      enabled once a month with a monetary value aniounting to Php 3,000.00 to be
11     used for the purchase offood commodities from patner merchants/retailers.
T2                S;BC. 7.         Identif ication          and          Selection          Of          Partner
13     A4lercho#/i/F'lc#dors. -The following will be conducted for the identification of
14     partner merchants, to wit: (1) Mapping of local merchants; (2) Identification and
15      evaluation  of potential  merchant/vendors  using  the  criteria  under  the  FSA
16      Program;   (3)  Partnership  with  eligible  merchants:   (a)  Partnership  through
17     Memorandum   of  Agreement  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the
18      KADIWA market;   (b) Partnership with select private merchants/vendor;  and
19      (c) Registration of accredited merchants/vendors.
2o                 SEC.  8.  Cap¢citj7  B#i.Jdi.#g.  -  The  target  beneficiaries  are  required  to
21      regularly  attend  community  sessions  and  assemblies  as  a  condition  for  the


1      continuous   electronic   benefit   transfers.   The   DSWD   shall   conduct   case
2     monitoring and home visits to ensure compliance with the FSA program.
3                 Community sessions and assemblies are aimed toward the achievement of
4      individual behavior and social behavior change. A ladderised approach shall be
5      utilized focusing on the following key areas, to wit: (a) Nutrition Education; (b)
6     Productivity Enhancement; and (c) Coaching and Mentoring to complement the
7     nutrition education and productivity enhancement sessions.
8                S;EC. 9. Social and Behavior change communication (SBCC) Strategy
9     A#d  4cJi.o#.   -  To   achieve  a  positive  behavioral   change  among  program
lo     beneficiaries   and  stakeholders,  the  prograln  will   implement   SBCC   as   an
11      intervention that targets the program's stakeholders and beneficiaries.
T2                 S;EC.  10.   Job  Network   Services   and/or   El'I'Iploymeut   Promotion.   -
13      Opportunities shall be created under the program to ensure job facilitation and
14      self employment  for  all  household    beneficiaries.  Necessary  support  may  be
15     provided to the beneficiaries throuch partnerships with the following concerned
16     agencies   such   as   the   Department   of  Labor   and   Employment   (DOLE),
17     Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and
18      Technical Education and skills Development Authority (TESDA).
19                  Similar   assistance   shall   be   provided   to   aid   in   the   processing   of
2o     requirements of the household beneficiaries during the job-seeking period. The
21      FSA program may provide certain exceptions to this condition on a case-to-case
6


1     basis to be assessed by the respective field offices where the beneficiaries are
2      located.
3                 As part of the exit strategy, the beneficiaries may also be referred to the
4      Sustainable Livelihood program (SLP) and other existing relevant programs and
5      services of various line agencies to ensure program sustainability.
6                 SEC.11.  Grz.ev¢#ce jRcdress A4l¢#¢geme"f. -A feedback system will be
7      developed as a means of gathering suggestions, recommendations, and inputs in
8      order to  improve the  FSA  Program.  The  feedback  shall  include  a  grievance
9     mechanism  that  promotes  transparency,  fairness,  and  accountability  in  the
10      implementation.
LI                EEC;.12.   Establishment  of a National program Management  of :f ilce
12     tIVpfl40J. - There shall be established  a National Program Management Office
13      (NPMO) to operationalize the FSA program. The NPMo in coordination with
14     the  development partners  and  stakeholders  in the  national  and regional  level
15      shall   implement  the  FSA  Program   activities.  Likewise,  Regional  Program
16     Management  Offices  (RPMOs)  shall  be  established  in  each  region  for  the
17      implementation of the FSA program.
18                 Various   departments   in   the   local   government   units   composed   of
19     multidisciplinary   units   from   social   welfare,   health,   nutrition   and   other
2o      stakeholders will be tapped at the local level.
21                 DSWD  shall  adopt  adequate  and  efficient  modes  to  expeditiously  and
22      effectively  deliver the support needed by the target beneficiaries.  The DSWD
7


1     may    procure    or    construct    a    secure    offlce    system,    information    and
2      communication   technology   equipment,   and   all   necessary   capital   outlay
3      expenditures needed to efficiently and effectively implement the FSA program.
4                F:EC.L3.      Program     Coordination     With     The     Department     Of
5     4grJ.cw/rwre   -   The   DSWD   shall   coordinate   the   FSA   Program   with   the
6     Department of Agriculture for the purpose of, among others, helping the local
7      farmers to sell their farm products.
8                 SEC.14.       Scar/ed-ZJp  J"p/cmc»/«fz.o».-Implementation  of  the  FSA
9      Program shall be as follows:
Activities
Beneficiaries
Timeline
Amount
1 st Tranche
300,000
2024
Php 11, 340,000,000.00
2nd Tranche
600,000
2025
Php 22, 680,000,000.00
3 rd Tranche
I,000,000
2026
Php 37,800,000,000.00
TOTAL
Php 71,820,000,000.00
10
11                 SEC.15.  PersoH#cJ CoilqpJcme"£ -The DSWD may create the required
12     plantilla and  staffing pattern necessary  for the  implementation of this Act in
13      coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the
14      Civil service commission (CSC).   The DSWD shall include in their budgetary
15      submission  to  the   DBM  the  required  budget   for  personnel   services   and
16     miscellaneous and other operating expenses.  Such budgetary requirements shall
17      be included in the General Appropriations Act.
8


1                EEC.16.  Joint congressional oversight committee. ~ A c;cf rlgresstonzA
2      oversight committee is  constituted to monitor,  set the overall  framework,  and
3      review the implementation of this Act.
4                 The oversight committee shall be composed of five (5) Senators and five
5      (5) Members  of the House  of Representatives to  be  appointed by  the  Senate
6     President and the speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively, and co-
7      chaired by  the  chairpersons  of the  Committee on  Social  Justice,  Welfare  and
8     Rural Development of the senate and the committee on social services of the
9      House of Representatives.
1o                 For   puxposes    of   determining    remedial    legislation,    the    oversight
11      committee shall, within three (3) years after the effectivity of this Act, conduct a
12     review  of the  impact,  accomplishment  and performance  of the  implementing
13       agencies.
14                 S;EC. +7.  Irxplementing Rules and Regulations. ~W.TAIln stlx (6) months
15      from   the   effectivity   of  this   Act,   the   Secretary   of   Social   Welfare   and
16     Development,  in consultation with the  Secretaries of Labor and Employment,
17      Health  and  the  Trade  and  Industry,  shall  promulgate the  necessary  rules  and
18     regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.
19                 SEC.   18.     4zproprJ.a/I.ous.   -  The  amount  necessary   for  the   initial
2o      implementation   of  this   Act   shall   be   charged   against   the   current   year's
21      appropriations  of DSWD.   Thereafter,  such sum as may  be necessary  for the
9


1      continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
2     Appropriations Act.
3                 SEC.19.  Separ¢bz./rty cr¢usc. -If any provision of this Act is declared
4     unconstitutional,  the  remainder  of this  Act  or  any  provisions  not  affected
5      thereby shall remain in full force and effect.
6                 SEC.   20.      jRcpc¢/J.#g   CJ¢wsc.   -  All   laws,   presidential   decrees   or
7      issuances,  executive orders,  letter of instructions,  administrative  orders,  rules,
8     and regulations or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of
9     this act are amended, repealed, or modified accordingly.
1o                 SEC. 21.   Ej7e:cffrz.fy. -This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
11      its publication in the oLorcz.¢/ Gcize#e or in a newspaper of general circulation.
12                  Approved,
10