The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has partnered with the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) and Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) Philippines to expand the reach of the Walang Gutom Kitchen (WGK) and restore hope to children, as well as families and individuals in street situations (FISS), most of whom experience involuntary hunger.
The tripartite memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, PHOA President Arthur Lopez, and SOS Philippines National Manager Rachel Marie Luna on Tuesday (Dec. 2) at the DSWD Central Office in Batasan, Quezon City.
In his message, Gatchalian stressed that apart from financial assistance, the Department’s deeper mission is to help people reclaim hope, something that hunger and homelessness often take away from them.
“On another note, I was talking to a communications person before who was always telling me that whenever people see the DSWD, they see the material side of our Department — ayuda, cash grants. But the deeper meaning of the DSWD, I guess, should be what we restore. We are in the business of restoring hope, and I have seen, when I go to the kitchen, the lack of hope, or hopelessness in the face of hungry people,” Secretary Rex Gatchalian said.
According to the DSWD chief, the expanded partnership will be crucial in reaching more individuals and families who are experiencing hunger and homelessness.
“When you’re thinking about what meal to eat the next hour, it can be very, very difficult, and it defaces a person. It takes away every dignity that you have, it strips you of every pride or every self-worth that you have,” Gatchalian said.
“We realized early on in the Department that we are in the business of bringing back hope. But we know it’s very difficult to bring back hope by ourselves. But with partners like PHOA and SOS Philippines, we are quite confident that we can actually bring back hope to the hungry,” the DSWD chief pointed out.
Under the agreement, the PHOA will mobilize its member hotels to provide safe, viable, and edible surplus food, as well as serviceable non-food items, to the WGK, a key program of the Marcos administration.
The PHOA will also promote the initiative within the hospitality sector to encourage broader participation.
PHOA President Lopez expressed the association’s full support for the WGK, emphasizing that the partnership “creates a beautiful cycle, a transforming potential of food excess, including nutritious meals, and our shared pride against hunger.”
“As the representative body of the hotel owners nationwide, PHOA proudly pledges our full support to the Walang Gutom Kitchen project. We are confident, we will not just meet our goals, but exponentially widen our reach, bringing dignity and nourishment to more communities in need,” the PHOA president said.
To ensure that donated surplus food will reach the WGK, the SOS Philippines will serve as the logistics partner and food rescuer.
The SOS Philippines will facilitate the collection, transport, and turnover of surplus food and non-food items from PHOA member hotels and other sources to the WGK.
“This partnership demonstrates that solutions to complex problems such as hunger are possible when we work creatively and collaboratively. It is about finding new ways to make every meal count, to give value to what would otherwise go to waste, and to ensure that communities across the Philippines can access nutritious meals,” SOS National Manager Luna said.
