DOJ: Zero hunger task force still exists

MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger (IATF-ZH) still exists even though the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (OCS), which was designated to head the task force, had been abolished, according to the Department of Justice.

DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla issued the legal opinion after it was sought by Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, who noted that the OCS was abolished by President Marcos in June 2022 through Executive Order No. 1.

In his query, Herbosa asked whether the functions of the IATF-ZH as steering committee lead of the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) can be transferred to the National Nutrition Council (NNC).

Under the government’s loan agreement with the World Bank-International Bank, IATF-ZH was designated as the PMNP’s project steering committee lead and the Department of Health (DOH) is the lead agency of the project.

Herbosa pointed out that the membership of the IATF-ZH is the same as that of NNC, “save for the fact that the latter is chaired by the DOH.”

In response, Remulla said the IATF-ZH is a “completely different entity” and “subsists” despite the abolition of the OCS, noting that the only consequence of the abolition is the assumption of chairmanship by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary.

He added that the government has recently recognized and strengthened the task force under EO 27, which reorganized the DSWD secretary as the chairman and the NNC’s executive director as the co-chair, in lieu of the cabinet secretary.

The DOJ further noted that EO 27 “expressly states that except as expressly modified, all provisions of EO 101 shall remain in full force and effect.

EO 101, which was issued in 2020, established the IATF-ZH and appointed the OCS as its chair.

“Since the IATF-ZH still exists, its responsibilities, with respect to the PMNP, could not be transferred to the NNC,” Remulla said.