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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Two senators are calling for the immediate passage of the bill seeking to institutionalize feeding programs in Philippine public schools.
The school feeding program for students from public kindergarten and elementary schools will be sustained by local gardens, farmers and fishermen, the bill said.
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1279, or the “Pagkaing Pinoy Para sa Batang Pinoy” Act also aims to provide farmers and fisherfolk additional income.
“Through this policy, infants and school children will enjoy free regular access to nutritious food,” said Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, also chairperson of the Senate Committee on Education.
According to the 2013 Food and Agriculture Organization, there were about 16 million undernourished children in the country.
For her part, Sen. Grace Poe, co-sponsor of the measure, said that investing in children’s nutrition is “money well-spent.”
For every P50 spent on school feeding, Poe explained that the government could spend P5,150 in future health, education and low productivity cost due to childhood malnutrition.
She also cited the benefits of the feeding program to students’ academic performance.
“In 2011, the Department of Education reportedly strengthened its School Health and Nutrition Programs to make them more responsive to enhancing students’ motivation and capacity to learn, reducing absenteeism, and ensuring completion,” the senator in her speech said.
SBN 1279 also encourages the setting up of school and household garden, which will help augment the program’s food requirements./PN
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