CONGRESS has allocated P15.8 billion for the Education and Social Welfare departments’ feeding programs in schools and daycare centers, a lawmaker said on Thursday.
“We are counting on feeding programs to help alleviate child hunger, improve the nutrition of learners from food-insecure households, and prevent pupils-at-risk from dropping out of school,” Makati City Rep. Luis Jose Angel N. Campos, Jr. said in a statement.
Under the total allocation, P11.7 billion is earmarked for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) and P4.1 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP).
“The combined P15.8-billion provision for the SBFP and the SFP next year is P5 billion or 46% greater than the P10.8 billion that the two feeding programs are getting this year,” said Mr. Campos, who is also the vice chairperson of the House appropriations panel.
The DepEd’s SBFP is expected to provide food for 220 days and milk for 55 days for underweight elementary pupils, said Mr. Campos.
He added that the DSWD’s SFP will fund meals for 2 million children in daycare centers supported by local government units and in supervised neighborhood play groups.
Last month, the Department of Health said 26% of Filipino children aged below five are shorter for their age. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
