Manila Archdiocese Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo has called on the faithful to support the Church’s Lenten program with the onset of Lent this February 17, Ash Wednesday.

In a Pastoral Letter, Pabillo urged the faithful to support the Church’s Pondo ng Pinoy FAST2FEED program to help feed malnourished and poor children particularly those who were badly affected by the pandemic.
The program supports the Hapag-Asa Integrated Nutrition Program that helps feed malnourished children. “Whatever you save from fasting, you may donate to be used in feeding children who are in danger of stunting and wasting,” Pabillo said.
The prelate said, it only costs Php10. a day or a total of Php1,200 for six months to feed a malnourished child for 120 days. Donations, he said, may be sent to Caritas Manila.
The Hapag-Asa Feeding Program of Pondo ng Pinoy was set up by Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales in 2004 which aims to feed malnourished children with funds generated from money saved from fasting during the Lenten season.
Records from the ‘The State of the World’s Children: Children, Food and Nutrition’ in 2019 showed, one in every three children aged five are short for their age, while around seven percent are underweight.