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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Grace Poe to 2025 poll candidates: Prioritize child nutrition programs

Grace Poe to 2025 poll candidates: Prioritize child nutrition programs

Published Apr 21, 2025 06:12 am

Senator Grace Poe has called on candidates in the upcoming May 2025 elections to prioritize child welfare, particularly addressing malnutrition and stunting among Filipino children.

Grace Poe.jpg
Senator Grace Poe

Poe, author of Republic Act No. 11037 or the "Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act," emphasized the importance of sustaining government feeding programs already in place.

"We're not starting from zero. The programs and the budget for child nutrition are in place, but we need champions for this advocacy to ensure its continuity," she said.

The law paved the way for two major initiatives: the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) under the Department of Education, and the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

From School Year 2018-2019 to 2023-2024, SBFP facilitated the distribution of hot meals and nutritional food products to 16,088,184 learners and milk to 12,139,770 learners.

For the ongoing School Year 2024-2025, the program is currently providing 2,207,769 learners with hot meals and nutritional food products and 2,206,268 learners with fresh milk.

Under the 2025 national budget, which Poe sponsored in the Senate, the SBFP budget amounted to P11.7 billion, which is P65.7 million higher than the 2024 budget.

Poe introduced a special provision in the SBFP budget under the 2024 and 2025 General Appropriations Acts to minimize administrative costs and to ensure that most of the allocated funds will be used for the feeding program itself.

For the SFP, which is under the Department of Social Welfare and Development,  a total of 9,558,636 children in local government unit-run Child Development Centers and Supervised Neighborhood Play were provided with nutritious food and fresh milk from 2020 to 2024.

For School Year 2023-2024 alone, the SFP served 1,846,902 children. The number of severely underweight and underweight children was reduced from 170,135 to 42,447, equivalent to a 75 percent improvement rate.

Poe said the figures about the kids' improved nutrition are encouraging, but added there should be no let-up in the programs.

"We are gratified that in our years in the Senate, we are able to pass the feeding program laws, and correspondingly created a budget space for their implementation," Poe said.

"Where our children's nutrition is concerned, a diet policy does not work. For our children to reach their full potential and be productive, we need to provide them with the very basic need, which is food," Poe added. 

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Senator Grace Poe Matalinong boto 2025 Department of Education
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