HOUSE F REPRESENTATIVES

FIVED
Republic of the Philippines RECET
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIV! pare gil

; 2016
Quezon City we, $B
SEVENTEENTH (17"") CONGRESS BY:

First Regular Session
REGISTRATION UNIT

HOUSE BILL NO. a4 o BILLS AND INDEX SERVICE

Introduced by Representative Jose Christopher Y, Belmonte

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Docketed as House Bill No, 5618 in the Sixteenth (16") Congress. This bill is a
substitute bill for nine (9) separate proposed measures, namely: (a) House Bill No, 364 by
Rep. Raul Del Mar, (b) ifouse Bill No. 624 by Rep. Kimi Cojuangeo, House Bill No. 680 by
Rep. George Arnaiz, (d) House Bill No, 1154 by Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, (¢) House Bill No.
1347 by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, (f) House Bill No. 1452 by Rep, Neri Colmenares, (g) House
Bill No, 1504 by Rep.:Rellaflor Angara-Castillo, (h) House Bill No, 1548 by Rep. Juliette
Uy, and (i) House Bill N>, 2627 by Rep. Sol Aragones.

The 1987 Cons itution Mandates the protection of the health of all the people,
regardless of age, Article II, Section 15 states that

“The § shall protect and promote the right to health of the
people and instill health consciousness among them.”

According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) almost 1.8 million
Filipino children suffer !rom malnutrition, Malnutrition among the children has led to’ their
stunted growth, and is considered one of the major reasons for the high dropout rates in
elementary and high school students.’

The 2011 nations! survey conducted by FNRI showed that 2 out of 10 children from 0
to 4 years old were born below the average weight. The survey also concluded that 20.2% of
children in this category were underweight, 33.6% were stunted and 7.3% of the children
suffers from acute malnutrition, Children in the range of 5 to 10 years older on the other hand
showed that 32% were underweight, 33.6% had below average heights and 8.5% suffer from
acute malnutrition.

Health officials and education experts agree that there is a direct link between the
prevalence of malnutrition and its negative effect in the behaviour and ability of children to
perform well in school. Malnourished students have more difficulty academically and have
lower test scores.

1 netp://www.channelnewsasia.com /news/asiapacific/in-philippines/2473428.huml


‘The Department of Education (DepEd), as well as the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD), have already begun various feeding programs to address this
problem. It has shown significant improvement in the academic performance and general
well being of the student, However, because of the lack of sufficient funds, DepEd can only
provide food for 8% of the children population affected by severe malnutrition in 1, 010
public schools in 28 provinces.

This bill seeks to institutionalize a universal feeding program and expand existing
feeding programs mandatory in all public kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools in
the country to eliminate malnutrition among Filipino children, and to foster a better
environment for learning,

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bil

earnestly sought


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH (17!") CONGRESS
First Regular Session

448
HOUSE BILL NO. _.{

Introduced by REP. JOSE CHRISTOPHER Y. BELMONTE

AN ACI
TUTIONALIZING THE NATIONAL §
PUBLIC KINDERGARTEN AND ELEME!
FUNDS eREFOR

[(OOL FEEDING PROGRA|
ARY PUPILS AND APPROPR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 1. Short 7 Act shall be known as the “National School

Feeding Program (NSFP) Act

‘ttle. ~ Th

SEC, 2. Declaration of Polie)
promote the rights of children to survival, development,
recognition on the nature of childhood and its special ne

It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
and special protection with full

Is.

Recognizing the direct correlation between good nutrition and the propensity of
children to develop into physically and mentally healthy individuals, the State shall
endeavor to promote and fortify proper nutrition among school children, especially those
belonging to low-income households, in order to safeguard them from the ill e
malnutrition and to enhance as well their learning capacities.

SE!

3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(@ Fortified food refers to food with deliberately increased content of essential
micronutrient, ie. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements)
irrespective of whether or not the nutrients were originally in the food before
processing, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and to



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provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health;

(b) Fresh milk refers to pasteurized fresh milk with limited shelf life, usually
seven (7) to ten (10) days, and requiring refrigeration;

(c) Fresh milk-based food refers to food product containing fresh milk blended
with powdered milk;

(d) National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or
Listahanan refers to an information management system that identifies who
and where the poor are in the country and serves as a reference in identifying
potential beneficiaries of social protection program; and

(e) Powdered milk refers to a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating
milk into powder form purposely to preserve it and to have a far longer shelf
life than liquid milk due to its low moisture content.

SEC. 4. Objectives, ~ The National School Feeding Program (NSFP) shall pursue the
following objectives:

(a) Ensure that adequate health and nutrition programs are accessible to school
children throughout their early childhood years;

(b) Achieve improved survival rates attendance in public kindergarten and
elementary schools;

() Enhance ‘the physical, social, cognitive, psychological, and language
development of young children;

(d) Mitigate malnourishment among school children, thus, ensuring that they will

be adequately prepared for the formal learning system; and
(c) Establish an efficient system for early identification, prevention, referral, and
intervention of developmental disorders and disabilities in early childhood.

SEC. 5. Establishment of the Ni ‘The NSEP is hereby established as an
alternative approach of providing free supplementary meals, including fresh milk-based food
products, through a program menu that shall be designed by the Department of Education
(DepED) particularly for children studying in public kindergarten and elementary schools
nationwide:

SEC. 6. Implementation and Interagency Coordination, ~ The DepED is hereby
authorized to lead in the administration and implementation of the NSEP.

In coordination with the DepED, the following national government agencies shall be
tasked to make available such resources as may be necessary to ensure the successful
implementation of the NSFP

(a) The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA)
shall tap farmers associations and cooperatives in the locality for possible
sources of food supplies and shall share with the DepED any available
resources ard facilities that may be used for the NSP;

(b) ‘The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) shall help
enlist the support of local government units (LGUs) as DepED partners in the
operation of the NSFP, including the possibility of utilizing the services of
barangay nutrition scholars and barangay health workers;

(c) The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall support
the DepED.-by ensuring the availability of data on poor households based on


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@

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(@)

The DepED, the participating national government agencies,

the NHTS-PR or Listahanan;

‘The Departinent of Trade and Industry (DTI), the DA, the Department of
Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall help the
DepED look’ for cost-effective sources of foodstuff, vaccines, and vitamin
supplements:

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) shall support
the DepED in the determination of official development assistance sources to
expand the inputs needed in the NSFP;

‘The National Dairy Authority (NDA) shall support the DepED in the
procurement of fresh milk-based food products and in coordinating with local
cooperatives and dairy corporations for the availability of milk supplies
needed; and

The National Nutrition Couneil (NNC), in coordination with the Food and
Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), shall provide the menu consisting of a
combination of foods that meet the recommended energy and nutrient intake
of children.

and other concerned

stakeholders shall execute a Memorandum of Agreement specifying the necessary

arrangements

SEC. 7. Mechanics of the

elative to the operation of the NSFP.

NSFP. — In addition to its interdepartmental coordinative

and consultative tasks during the operation of the NSFP, the DepED shall oversee the
following activities:

(@

(b)

@

(d)

‘Administer the NSFP, in coordination with concerned government
institutions, for a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) feeding days per
hol year to be done five (5) days a week with one (1) feeding activity per
school day;

Conduct orientation-training activities utilizing its core of trainors to all
DepED health and nutrition unit personnel at the regional and division levels,
so as to generate their support to the NSFP’s objectives and mechanic:
DepED personnel trained at the schools division level shall be responsible for
training the staff at the district and municipal levels while those trained at the
district and municipal levels shall be responsible for training the
implementers and feeding coordinators at the school level;

Conduct orientation meetings with parents and pupils utilizing the DepED
feeding coordinators for proper information dissemination on the NSFP’s
objectives and mechanics and in the process generate stakeholders’ support
for the program;

Conduct simultaneous health examinations, including deworming and
vaccination activities, to participating pupils during the orientation meeting
set for parenis and pupils. The school’s medical staff or the medical staff of a
public healtl: center in the community shall take charge and provide proper
treatment or referral to a hospital for pupils who are found to have defects or
ailments. Classroom advisers, who are required to undergo proper training to
be conducted by the barangay nutrition scholars and barangay health workers,
shall note their observations regarding the pupils’ health condition, including
the measurement of the pupils’ height and weight before the start of the
feeding program and every month thereafter for the entire duration of the



feeding program;
(e) Make available the necessary food supplies sueh as:
1, Fresh milk-based and fortified foods; and
2. Vitamin supplements in such dosages and for such duration as the
DOH may determine most beneficial to the child’s health and
nutritional well-being; and
() Ensure that the beneficiary school children eat their meals and drink their
milk inside the classroom only, and shall thus be prohibited from taking their
ration home

SEC. 8. Procuremeni, Storage and Handling System. ~ The procurement, storage and
handling of appropriate food supplies shall be spearheaded by the DepED, in coordination
with the NNC, the FNRI and other concerned government agencies. The DepED shall seek
the help of the DA in tapping the services of local farmers associations and cooperatives for
the procurement of locally produced food supplies and shall encourage contracts with farmers
associations and cooperatives in accordance with existing procurement laws.

In the procurement program, priority shall be given to the utilization of locally
produced fresh milk and locally available food supplies, utilizing as well the products of the
Gulayan sa Paaralan Project (GPP) of the DepED and the products of community gardens as
part of convergence efforts to increase food supplies at the locel level.

The DepED shall issue the guidelines necessary for the effective implementation of
the procurement, storage and handling system.

SEC. 9. Priority LGUs. ~ In case of shortage of funds, priority in the implementation
of the NSFP shall be given to municipalities and cities which are determined and identified
by the NNC or by any competent government agency to have high malnutrition rates.

SEC, 10. Participation of LGUs, ~ The Secretary of Education shall initiate
partnerships with LGU officials to encourage them to contribute available resources to the
feeding program in public schools within the LGUs’ respective area of jurisdiction.

SEC. 11. Participation of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). ~ The DepED shall
promote the involvement :of parents through the PTAs in the planning, implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation of the school feeding program.

12, Monitoring and Evaluation System. ~ The DepED shall establish a
monitoring and evaluation system for the nationwide implementation of the NSFP, which
shall incorporate periodic reports from the schools division and regional offices. The report
shall provide, among others, the needed information that may determine whether or not the
program has achieved its objectives, including the identification of issues and constraints as
well as the corresponding appropriate recommendations.

13. Tax Exeviption. — Any donation or bequest made to the DepED for the
NSFP shall be exempt ftom donor's tax and the same shall be considered as allowable
deduction from the gross income of the donor, in accordance with the provisions of the
‘National Internal Revenue. Code of 1997, as amended: Provided, That the donation is duly
approved by the Secretary of Education upon the recommendation of the Executive Director
of the NNC, in case of food products, and the Secretary of Health, in case of vaccine and



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vitamin products,

SEC. 14. Appropriations, ~The amount necessary to cover the initial implementation
of this Act shall be charged against the appropriation of the DepED for school-based feeding
program under the current General Appropriations Act, Thereafter, such sums as may be
necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual
General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within ninety (90) days from the
approval of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the heads of other
participating government agencies, shall formulate the rules and regulations implementing the
provisions of this Act. The implementing rules and regulations issued pursuant to this section
shall take effect thirty (30) days after its publication in two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation,

SEC. 16. Separability Clause. — \f any provision of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the other provisions not so declared shall remain in force and effect.

SEC, 17, Repealing Clause, ~ All laws, decrees, orders and rules and regulations
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended
accordingly.

EC, 18. Effectivity, ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,