By Vanne Terrazola Senator Grace Poe on Saturday said the government should continue its feeding programs for undernourished children despite the restrictions imposed against the COVID-19. Sen. Grace Poe (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) In a statement, Poe said she is relying on the commitment made by Education Secretary Leonor Briones in the recent Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, when the she inquired about the safe and effective ways of implementing the program amidst the coronavirus pandemic. "Ang mga silid-aralan ay maaaring walang laman habang ang mga bata ay nasa kanilang mga tahanan, ngunit hindi ang kanilang mga tiyan. Hindi dapat ikompromiso ang kanilang nutrisyon (Classrooms may be empty while children are staying home, but their stomach should not. Their nutrition should not be compromised),” Poe said. Under the Republic Act No. 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, undernourished children in public elementary school, kindergarten, and daycare centers shall be given free and nutritious meals for at least 120 days. One of its three components is the Department of Education’s (DepEd) school-based feeding program, which targets children from kindergarten to Grade 6. During the Senate hearing, Briones assured that the DepEd has already started meetings with the National Nutrition Council, pro-child organizations, and local government units (LGUs), including barangays, to update their data on the beneficiaries and to find out how to reach them. Poe said that by continuing the feeding program, children will be less vulnerable to illnesses amid the COVID-19 outbreak. She said local government units, such as Valenzuela City and Davao City, were able to establish centralized facilities in order to reach out to as many children as possible. "It can be done, as demonstrated by other LGUs effectively implementing feeding programs. Makakarating ang pagkain sa mga bata sa maraming paraan kung gugustuhin (The food will reach the children in many ways if we really want it to)," she pointed out. The Social Weather Stations survey recently reported that 4.2 million Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger in the last three months during the pandemic.