Educators, village officials laud food assistance program

PAMPANGA Provincial Government assured the local schools and barangay officials that it shall continue and further enhance its school-based supplemental feeding and nutrition advocacy programs in the province.

Pampanga Governor Eddie T. Panlilio made this promise during the assessment meeting with school administrators, teachers, barangay leaders and officers of the Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) at the Benigno Aquino Memorial Hall at the Capitol compound.

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About 200 participants from 96 public elementary schools in the province, all beneficiaries of the provincial government’s food assistance program in the past years, attended the said assessment.

Panlilio said that the province has spent P26.5 million for its supplemental feeding program with 17,267 undernourished school children.

“This program was made possible through “pamisaupan”, a synergy of efforts of the various sectors – from the schools which administer the program, to the communities which help in the food preparation, to the local government units which provide transportation and cost of fuel support,” Panlilio said.

He stressed that the funds used for the said program came from the public taxes and the provincial government was merely giving back what is due them.

The governor also reported that for this year, the province has allocated P10 million for its supplemental feeding program.

Rustica Butiu, provincial nutrition action officer, said the program’s direct implementers were one in saying that the program proved to be beneficial to the target undernourished children.

“Aside from gaining additional weight, the children became more active, alert and participative in class activities,” Butiu said.

There was also less incidence of absenteeism, even lesser instances of drop outs, she added.

The assessment’s participants also noted that the food assistance program also forged strong bond and cooperation between and among the schools, the communities and the LGUs.

Under the program, the school beneficiaries are provided with daily supplies of rice, meat and other necessary ingredients by the Provincial Government for their feeding, which runs up to 45 days.

The children, all weighing below normal, are served with nutritious meals and snacks prepared by the local PTA.

The parents of the beneficiaries also received briefings and orientations on proper nutrition including tips on how-to prepare home-based delicacies and other possible income generating projects.

One of the assessment’s participants from barangay San Esteban in Macabebe town said that their efforts and sacrifices in getting their daily food supplies from the Capitol to their area have paid off as the program reaped positive gains for their school children. (Erlinda T. Yutuc/Pampanga PIO)