April 24, 2025 – During its final meeting on Wednesday (April 23) before changing into the Economy and Development (ED) Council, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. approved the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) Project.

As Republic Act No. 12145, also known as the Economy, Planning, and Development Act, takes effect on April 27, 2025, the NEDA Board will be called the ED Council, which will still be headed by the President.

“By approving the REFUEL project, the government demonstrates its unwavering commitment to fight food insecurity and undernutrition. The program reflects a renewed focus toward ending involuntary hunger, uplifting vulnerable communities, and promoting resilience through smart, nutrition-sensitive social protection,” said NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

REFUEL, an enhancement of the former Philippine Food Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program (STAMP), is spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and remains under the Walang Gutom (Zero Hunger) 2027 Food Stamp Program as one of the flagship programs of the Marcos Administration.

According to the 2023 National Nutrition Survey of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, three in every 10 Filipino households experience moderate to severe food insecurity and three out of every 100 households face severe food insecurity.

The project will scale up the implementation of the Walang Gutom Program for 2025-2028, targeting 750,0000 food-insecure households identified from the DSWD’s Listahanan 3 database, while still covering the same set of beneficiaries from the former Philippine Food STAMP.

“The project’s goal is to strengthen our shock-responsive social protection systems by ensuring the timely delivery of food vouchers to Filipinos in need, particularly those facing hunger and nutritional challenges in the face of increasing climate and disaster risks,” Balisacan said.

REFUEL will be implemented from July 2025 to July 2028, following the pilot rollout of the former Philippine Food STAMP late last year. The project is estimated to cost PHP74.6 billion, with funding coming from the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) presented to the NEDA Board the results of the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS). Balisacan also sees the REFUEL project as an opportunity to boost human capital as the country aims to improve its basic and functional literacy in the coming years.

The NEDA Board also approved the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s request for an increase in the total project cost, a change in the project scope, and an extension of the loan validity and implementation period for the New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam Project.

The approved change brings the total project cost to PHP15.3 billion. The Kaliwa Dam, designed to provide an additional 600 million liters of raw water per day, is expected to serve the National Capital Region and the provinces of Rizal and Cavite. As of December 2024, over 24.8 percent of the physical construction has been completed.

The NEDA Board also approved the updated list of the government’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects. The new list now includes a total of 207 projects, up from the previous 186, with eight high-impact and urgently needed projects already completed since 2023.

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