P16B allocated for school feeding program

THE government has allocated nearly P16 billion to fight child hunger through school and daycare programs next year.

House Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman and Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said the P15.8 billion will help «alleviate child hunger, improve the nutrition of learners from food-insecure households, and prevent pupils-at-risk from dropping out of school.»

«Many low-income families are getting distressed by the lack of food on the table, and children are bearing the brunt of the scarcity,» Campos said.

November has been declared National Children's Month, marking the anniversary of the 1989 adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly.

Campos said the allocation for the school-based feeding program of the Department of Education has been increased to P11.7 billion in the 2024 national budget, while another P4.1 billion will be allocated to the Supplementary Feeding Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

He said the allocation for the two programs is P5 billion higher, or a 46 percent increase, than the P10.8 billion in the 2023 budget.

The school-based feeding program will provide nutritionally balanced meals or food products for 220 days plus milk for 55 days to «severely wasted and wasted» children or those who are underweight for their age from Kinder to Grade 6.

The supplemental feeding program, on the other hand, will supply fortified meals to two million preschoolers in public daycare centers sponsored by local government units and in supervised neighborhood play groups.