House passes bill ensuring adequate food for every Filipino
The House of Representatives has passed on final reading the bill proposing to guarantee adequate food to every Filipino by making it the government’s responsibility to facilitate access to food and promote its availability and adequacy.
With 228 affirmative and six negative votes, House Bill 8242 or the Right to Adequate Food Act was approved by the Lower House and will be transmitted to the Senate for its action.
HB 8242 entitled “An Act Providing a Framework to Protect and Promote the Right to Adequate Food” contains provisions taken from bills separately filed by Reps. Jericho Jonas B. Nograles (PBA Partylist0; Cheryl P. Deloso Montalla (PDP-Laban, Zambales) and Jose Christopher Belmonte (LP, Quezon City).
` Nograles underscored the need to provide a comprehensive framework law to make the right to adequate food meaningful.
“This comprehensive law, will not only harmonize provisions of all laws related to Filipinos' right to adequate foot but would also clarify the scope and content of the right, establish standards for compliance, lay down principles to shape the process of realization and prohibit violations of the right to adequate food,” Nograles explained.
The bill provides that it will be the primary duty to “respect, protect and fulfill the right of every individual to adequate food.”
HB 8242 states that every person has the right to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate, sufficient and safe food.
It provides food adequacy standard in terms of quality, quantity and cultural acceptability, sustainability of food availability and access.
Freedom from hunger provides that every person has the right to be free from hunger and suffer under nutrition and that a person is entitled to a minimum amount of food in accordance with one’s age, sex, health status, and occupation.
The bill also prohibits “any distinction, exclusion or restriction” in the exercise of an individual of the right to adequate food.
“All forms of discrimination against women with regard to the right to adequate food, including less favorable treatment of women for reasons of pregnancy and maternity, shall be eliminated and prevented,” HB 8242 states.
Persons found guilty of violating any provision of the measure, especially the deliberate denial of access to food face a penalty of six months to six years imprisonment and/or P100,000 to P500,000 in fine.