Nutribun 2.0: VP Duterte pilots 'Pansarap' for young learners
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
To address the problems of undernutrition and malnutrition in students, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, April 11, pilot-tested the “Pansarap” program, a nutribun-like supplemental nutrition intervention for undernourished learners, in Vice President Sara Duterte's hometown of Davao City.
The program was tested at the Lower Tamugan Elementary School in Barangay Tamugan, Davao City, where some 733 undernourished kindergarten to Grade 6 learners became the first beneficiaries to be supplemented with the nutritional buns developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).
The school has a total student population of 988.
School Principal Brembhot Eyas thanked the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd), which the Vice President heads in a concurrent capacity, for conducting the first run of the program among learners of Lower Tamugan Elementary School.
“For this, we are grateful to the Office of the Vice President for doing such an initiative to give equal importance to the health of our students,” Eyas said in a statement released by Duterte’s office.
The principal added that the number of undernourished children in their school is ‘alarming’.
OVP Undersecretary Atty. Zuleika Lopez credited the Vice President for the initiative.
“Ang proyekto ng Pansarap ay hindi lang proyekto ng Office of the Vice President, proyekto din ito ng Department of Education (The Pansarap is not only the project of the Office of the Vice President, it is also the project of the Department of Education),” Lopez said.
The nutritious bread, which comes in 10 flavors, are all Halal certified, and would be distributed to students from Mondays to Fridays for 120 days.
The OVP also plans to bring the program to other parts of the country with high cases of malnutrition among children.
Soon, it would be brought to Upi, Maguindanao, targeting 1,893 schoolchildren who need proper nutrition.