BARANGAY 13, Pasay City — Reports that food allegedly served at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 's 'Walang Gutom Kitchen' are leftovers have prompted Pasay City Mayor Imelda 'Emi' Calixto-Rubiano to visit the kitchen and make an actual test to verify the truth.

"Hindi po totoo na tira-tira . . . maayos po ang pagkain. Wala pong dapat pangambahan ang publiko dahil tiyak pong malinis ang sin-serve sa kanila," the lady local chief executive enthused.

Meanwhile, DSWD undersecretary for special projects Edu Punay disclosed that they are planning to expand the feeding program among local government units (LGUs) amidst calls from several local executives for it to reach even more underserved communities.

The previous year, polling firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) released its last quarter survey results showing that 22.9 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, the highest since the country got a 30.7 percent figure in September 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Navotas City representative Tobias Renald 'Toby' Marcelo Tiangco, the DSWD's 'No Hunger' program should be expanded nationwide to assuage the problem of hunger face by marginalized and underprivileged families.

Tiangco enthused that (the) program is “good” and the agency should study whether this should be implemented in different areas nationwide.

“We fully support the program as it is in line with the President’s call to fight hunger and poverty,” the mayor cited.

In reaction, Undersecretary Punay announced that after seeing the success of the program's pilot kitchen at the Nasdake Building in Pasay City, they are already preparing to expand it to different provinces the current year.

"The expanded program will prioritize areas with high poverty incidence like provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the provinces of Leyte and Samar, and those in Bicol Region," he pointed out.