Proposed school feeding program bill gets boost

CEBU, Philippines - The House of Representatives has approved on second reading House Bill 5269 which seeks to institutionalize the National School Feeding Program for public kindergarten and elementary pupils.

The proposed “National School Feeding Program Act” is principally authored by Cebu City First District Representative Raul del Mar.

Del Mar said the project shall be implemented in public schools since almost all school children enrolled there come from poor families and suffer from undernourishment and malnourishment which affect their capacity to attain and maintain average academic performance.

Del Mar in a statement said that children coming to school with practically no breakfast from home cannot be expected to absorb their lessons in school while suffering from hunger pangs.

House Bill 5269 declares that it is state policy to promote the rights of children to survival, development and special protection with full recognition on the nature of childhood and its special needs.

It further declares that in recognizing the direct correlation between good nutrition and the propensity of children to develop into physically and mentally healthy individuals, the State shall endeavor to promote and fortify proper nutrition among school children, especially those belonging to low-income households, in order to safeguard them from the ill effects of malnutrition and enhance their learning capacities.

The measure establishes a National School Feeding Program (NSFP) which will serve as an alternative approach of providing free supplementary meals, including fresh milk and fresh milk- based food products, through a menu program for children studying in public kindergarten and elementary schools nationwide.

Under the bill, the Department of Education will lead the administration in implementing NSFP.

The bill also mandates the creation of a Child Feeding and Nutrition Committee (CFNC) whose job shall be formulate a school-based feeding and nutrition framework, oversee its review and evaluation, and recommend necessary refinements on the NSFP implementation.

For her part, Parolita Mission, Nutrition Program Coordinator of the National Nutrition Council-7 said that they support this move.

"We are supporting any measure to that effect but we want a targeted approach and clarify the role of agencies and LGUs. Also to give priority to give interventions during the first 1,000 days," Mission added. (FREEMAN)