MANILA — Around 300,000 food-poor families now enjoy better meals as hunger continues to decline among the country’s poorest households, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported Wednesday.

In a Palace press briefing, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by the private sector in March 2025 showed that hunger among Walang Gutom Program (WGP) beneficiaries dropped for the second straight quarter.

The WGP grants each family ₱3,000 in monthly food credits via Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, usable at accredited retailers.

Survey data showed a 7.2 percentage point decline in hunger incidence across 10 regions and 22 provinces between October 2024 and March 2025. Hunger prevalence fell from 48.7 percent in October to 44.6 percent in December 2024, and further down to 41.5 percent by March 2025.

The steepest improvement was recorded in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)-Plus cluster, where hunger incidence dropped by 17.4 percentage points.

“There is enough evidence to show na the program is working,” Gatchalian said, adding that the WGP is on track to expand to 700,000 food-poor families identified by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“At sisiguraduhin namin na sa madaling panahon ay mawakasan natin ang kagutuman,” he added.

Launched in July 2023, the WGP is a key part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s anti-hunger agenda. As of August 2025, it supports 300,000 household beneficiaries nationwide through 1,017 accredited retail partners, including 639 women-led enterprises.

The program targets to free 750,000 food-poor families from hunger by 2027.