Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called on the government to increase the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to cover the additional 200,000 children projected to be included in its national feeding program.
Hontiveros urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to heed the DSWD’s request, pointing out that without the additional funding, it would leave at least 200,000 children malnourished.
“Mas dumami ang nagugutom ngayong pandemya pero hindi tayo nag-adjust. Parang walang krisis. 200,000 na bata ang hindi makakatanggap ng sapat na nutrisyon kung hindi natin pagbibigyan ang budget request ng DSWD (More people are hungry this COVID-19 pandemic, but we didn’t even think of making any adjustment. As if there is no crisis. There would be 200,000 children who won’t be getting nutrition if we don’t accept DSWD’s budget request),” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the senator noted that unemployment numbers hit 7.3 million in June and will likely continue to rise.
The DSWD requested an additional P1.36 billion for the feeding program, but it was not approved by the DBM.
“Nakakalungkot man, asahan natin na aakyat pa ang mga numero na ito. Pag marami ang walang trabaho, marami rin ang magugutom (Though it’s sad, let’s anticipate that the numbers will increase. If many people lose their jobs, more people will go hungry). We have to adjust the budget accordingly,” she stressed.
She also questioned why the DSWD budget for the feeding program had remained unchanged in 2020, pointing out that the agency only met 87.93 percent of its target in 2019.
“I want to understand the logic behind this. Hindi nga natin ma-meet yung 100% target natin, pero hindi natin bibigyan ng sapat na pondo ngayong dumami ang nangangailangang bata? (We were unable to meet the 100 percent target, but we are not going to give it sufficient funds now that more children are in need?),” she pointed out.
“Will we allow more children to be malnourished or will we compromise the quality of the nutrition we provide? Talo tayo kahit anuman ang sagot,” Hontiveros stressed.
“Ngayong pandemya, mas kailangan tayo ng mga batang Pilipino. Wag natin sila isantabi, (Now that there is a pandemic, these Filipino children need us more than ever. Let’s not neglect them),” she said.