Duterte signs national feeding program law

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

Posted at Jul 03 2018 07:38 PM

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Children carry their free meals given during a feeding program by the World Mission Community
Care outreach group at a slum area in the Baseco compound in Manila. Romeo Ranoco, Reuters.
2014
MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law institutionalizing a national feeding
program for undernourished children in the country.

Duterte signed on June 20 Republic Act 11037 or the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang
Pilipino Act,” which aims to combat hunger and undernutrition among Filipino children. The
education and social welfare departments shall be the lead implementors of this law.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the law was a “clear proof of the President’s
dedication to afford every Filipino child of the right to proper healthcare and nutrition benefits.”

“It is a testament that the Duterte administration recognizes the importance of good nutrition to
our children’s ability to develop into physically and mentally healthy individuals,” he added.

The law provides for the establishment of a supplemental feeding program for children attending
day care centers aged 3 to 5. Children under this program shall receive one fortified meal for a
period of not less than 120 days in a year.

A fortified meal, as defined by the law, is a “meal with deliberately increased content of essential
micronutrients so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food and provide the level of calories
and protein as prescribed by the National Nutrition Council.”

A school-based feeding program shall also be implemented by the education department for
undernourished public school children from kindergarten to Grade 6 students. Children under this
program shall also receive one fortified meal for a period of not less than 120 days in a year.

The law also provides for a milk feeding program, wherein fresh milk and fresh milk-based food
products shall be incorporated in the fortified meals and standardized menus prepared by national
government agencies.

The education and social welfare departments, in coordination with the health department, shall
also provide micronutrient supplements, including iodized salt, to the program beneficiaries.

The government shall also conduct simultaneous health examinations, including, but not limited
to, deworming and vaccination.

The education and social welfare departments shall also encourage their respective component
units to devote a portion of their land or space for cultivation of vegetables and other nutrient-rich
plants. In coordination with the health department and local government units, the two
departments shall establish and maintain water and sanitation facilities.

The national feeding program shall be complemented by a public health nutrition and values
transformation campaign to “promote a holistic and integrated approach to health and nutrition
education.”

The education and social welfare departments are also tasked to create a 5-year plan to fully
implement the program. The law calls for the prioritization of the national feeding program in
areas with high prevalence of undernutrition among children aged 3 years up to Grade 6 level.

The law also creates the National Nutrition Information System, which shall be utilized in
monitoring the health and nutrition of all Filipino children, especially those covered by the
program.

To ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the program, the education and social
welfare departments shall establish a community-based mode of procurement, liquidation and
audit of goods and services needed for the program.