The Philippine government has several programs to combat child undernutrition. The two largest are the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) of the Department of Education (DepEd). The SFP targets children three to five years old enrolled in Child Development Centers (daycare centers) and Supervised Neighborhood Play groups.

The program provides daily nutritious hot meals (and, in some areas, milk) for 180 feeding days in 2026. It includes nutrition education for parents and caregivers, along with regular monitoring of the children’s weight and nutritional status. Local government units (LGUs) get involved under the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act. This year, the DSWD expanded the program to serve more than 1.8 million children nationwide, backed by a larger budget and a longer feeding period.

DepEd’s School-Based Feeding Program focuses on public school learners, especially those identified as wasted, severely wasted, or otherwise nutritionally at-risk. The program provides daily nutritious meals during the school year, milk feeding in many schools, and regular health and nutrition assessments. On July 8, 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the nationwide expansion of the school feeding program, stating that the government intends to broaden coverage so that more learners receive nutritious meals while also supporting the Filipino farmers who supply the food. True enough, this program was given prominence in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) yesterday.

The government also supports child nutrition through the National Nutrition Council and the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. Maternal and child nutrition services of the Department of Health include breastfeeding promotion, micronutrient supplementation, growth monitoring, deworming, and nutrition counseling. Additionally, local government units have their own community nutrition and food security initiatives. One of the most successful was implemented in Quezon Province when now-Congressman Jay Suarez was governor. Quezon Province was one of the pioneers in implementing the First 1,000 Days program, feeding the baby even while still in the womb of the mother.

Because of the magnitude of this problem of child stunting due to undernutrition, the private sector must do its share in ensuring that vulnerable children receive adequate nourishment during their critical years of growth and learning. That is why the Philippine Food Bank Foundation decided to partner with a public school in Muntinlupa in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program called “Balik Lusog.”

It was launched at Poblacion Elementary School in Muntinlupa in partnership with the Loaves and Fish Foundation, made possible by a generous grant from the Starbucks Foundation. The children that the program set out to feed were 500 learners from Grades 3 to 6—children identified as malnourished or undernourished. Many of them come from families relocated from the railroad tracks. They were coming to school on empty stomachs, and because they were hungry, it was very difficult for them to learn.

For 38 school days—from Jan. 26 to March 19, 2026—the Loaves and Fish kitchen cooked fresh, nutritious meals every single morning. Parent volunteers from a private school, PAREF Southridge, delivered the meals to the school. Teachers and the school nurse watched over every child every single school day. At the end of those 38 days, the children were subjected to health measurements: ninety-five percent (95 percent) of the 500 children gained weight. Furthermore, every subject—English, Filipino, Science, Mathematics, and Araling Panlipunan—showed higher test scores in the fourth quarter than in the quarter prior to when the feeding started.

Children who used to arrive tired and distracted became more alert. Children with frequent absences started showing up daily—because for some of them, the meal served in school was the only decent meal for the whole day. One child told a teacher, “I am excited to come to school now.” That child, fed, healthy, and learning today, is the nurse, the engineer, the teacher, or the entrepreneur of tomorrow. The Philippine Food Bank spent just 57 centavos per meal to invest in the human resources of tomorrow, thanks to the donation of surplus food, dedicated volunteers, and the quiet faith of sponsors who agreed to help even before they knew the outcome.

Fortunately, the Starbucks Foundation has generously invited the Philippine Food Bank to apply for a second grant. The officials, with the support of numerous donors—among them those who participated in the Golf Tournament at Tagaytay Midlands—have every intention of going beyond one grant and one school. The Balik Lusog program resumed at Poblacion Elementary School in Muntinlupa on July 27, 2026, the exact same day that President Marcos delivered his SONA. Close to 1,000 undernourished children in Grades two to six will once again be fed for as many days as possible during the school year.

From there, the Foundation plans to bring Balik Lusog to every public elementary school in Muntinlupa, hopefully in partnership with the School-Based Feeding Program of the Department of Education. The Foundation is now in conversations with officials from the Department of Education so that a formal Public-Private Partnership framework can be developed on the basis of our experience at the elementary school in Muntinlupa. Our next target is the City of Pasig, where two leading government officials, Mayor Vico Sotto and Congressman Roman Romulo, are among the most enlightened on this long-festering problem of child undernutrition and its very deleterious effect on the quality of our human resources.

After the Foundation perfects the Muntinlupa and Pasig models, there is no limit to what can be accomplished across the numerous Philippine municipalities. We hope the Balik Lusog experiment in Muntinlupa can inspire other private initiatives combating hunger in the Philippines to adopt the PPP model, ensuring government funds are best utilized with a minimum of inefficiency and poor governance.

I am especially referring to several notable private initiatives. Among corporate foundation feeding programs, many large Philippine enterprises operate long-term nutrition programs through their foundations, including the Jollibee Group Foundation (Busog, Lusog, Talino—BLT—feeding program and community kitchens), Pilipinas Shell Foundation (school-community nutrition projects), Ayala Foundation (nutrition and maternal-child health initiatives), Aboitiz Foundation (community feeding and nutrition education), Metrobank Foundation (support for nutrition and health programs), Manila Water Foundation (nutrition linked to clean water and sanitation), ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation (feeding and nutrition assistance), and GMA Kapuso Foundation (nutrition and disaster feeding).

Faith-based organizations also play a vital role, including Caritas Philippines, Feed the Hungry Philippines, various Catholic diocesan feeding programs, and several Protestant and Evangelical feeding groups. Similarly, NGO-led nutrition programs contribute immensely to the cause, such as the Philippine Food Bank Foundation, Rise Against Hunger, Project PEARLS, Kabisig ng Kalahi, Gawad Kalinga, and the NVC Foundation, whose Mingo nutrition program provides fortified complementary food to undernourished children.

I have by no means prepared an exhaustive list of private initiatives that directly address the serious problem of undernourished children. In fact, it can be arguably stated that the Philippines has one of Southeast Asia’s broadest networks of private-sector nutrition initiatives. Corporate foundations, NGOs, churches, civic organizations, and international partners collectively invest hundreds of millions of pesos each year in feeding programs, nutrition, food fortification, community kitchens, breastfeeding promotion, and livelihood initiatives.