Vice-presidential aspirant Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan cited the need to ensure the country's food security as this is directly related to the education of young students.

Pangilinan made the statement as he participated in the Vice Presidential debate hosted by CNN Philippines at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Saturday, February 26.

Answering the question of how to address the problem in education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Pangilinan said he and Vice President Leni Robredo, his running mate in the 2022 elections, would immediately release P90 billion to help the students.

The P90 billion would include, among others, one gadget per student and a P300 worth of Wi-Fi load allowance per month.

However, Pangilinan said that one big problem directly related to the quality of education that needs to be addressed is malnutrition.

"Paano ka mag-aaral nang maayos kung kumakalam ang sikmura mo (How are you going to focus on studying if your stomach is rumbling)?" he said.

"Ninety-five young people are dying every day, our children, because of malnutrition at yun ang ating kinakailangan nating gawin (and that is what we need to address) because we are food insecure," he added.

Boosting the country's food security would also address the problem of stunting among children, Pangilinan said.

Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Usually, a stunted kid has a low height for their age.

Based on the 2019 data from the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), 28.8 percent of children up to 59 months old are stunted, this is lower compared to the 30.3 percent recorded in 2018.

To ensure the country's food security, Pangilinan said the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem would double the budget of the Agriculture department and triple the support given to farmers and fisherfolk so they can increase their harvest and catch.

"'Pag marami nang supply ng pagkain sa ating merkado, bababa abg presyo ng pagkain (If we have enough supply of food in the market, the price of food will go down)," he said.

"Hello pagkain (food), good bye gutom (hunger).