President Rodrigo Duterte has formally signed into law Republic Act 11037, which aims to institutionalize a feeding program for undernourished children in public schools all over the country.
The act, which was passed by both houses on March 20, seeks to establish a nationwide program specifically for public day care, kindergarten, and elementary schools so as to 'combat hunger and under nutrition among Filipino children.'
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The newly-signed law is an integration of Senate Bill No. 1279 or the 'Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang Pinoy Act' as well as the House Bill No. 5269, which was approved last year.
"Through this policy, school children in the kindergarten and elementary levels will enjoy free access to nutritious food, sourced from our local farmers, with the Department of Education (DepEd) ensuring that students from kindergarten to Grade 6 are provided with proper meals," said Senator Bam Aquino as seen on a press release for the Senate Bill No. 1279.
Meanwhile, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, co-author of the same bill, initially noted that the program will benefit not only school children, but also local farmers and fishermen.
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"This program is a two-pronged approach in solving the malnutrition and hunger problems of our schoolchildren as well as giving more opportunities for our local farmers and fisherfolk to market their produce which in effect would increase their income," said Zubiri.
"This will not be the usual feeding program where children are fed porridge. The menu for this program would be intensively studied with consideration to many factors such as the age range and cultural eating preferences of schoolchildren," the senator added.
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