Republic of the
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Fifteenth Congress
First Regular Session

O91
HOUSE BILL No._ 19 ~

Introduced by Rep. GEORGE P. ARNAIZ
Rep. JOCELYN SY-LIMKAICHONG

EXPLANATORY NOTE

It has been said that the future of our country lies in our
children hence it is deem appropriate that the government should
invest sufficient resources for their holistic development. Proper
nourishment of our school children should be a primordial concern of
our government in order to enhance scholastic stimulation a child
gets, if the child is not developmentally ready to do so, teaching will be
a waste of time and effort. It is said that health and education are the
surest ways to climb the socio-economic ladder. But we cannot
achieve this vision as long as many of our children are languishing in
their homes in hunger instead of eagerly learning in school.

However, it is unfortunate that the Philippines is one of the
countries where nutritional deficiencies and health problems hinder
children’s progress in school. There is a general weak predisposition of
students to learn due to their poor health and nutrition and this has a
serious implication as they advance in the education level. Our
education system is besieged with educational malaise as reflected in
the elementary enrolment profile. This has haunted our education
system for the longest time. Department of Education data shows that
cohort survival rate of public elementary school pupils is deteriorating
every year with a drop put rate of about 32% or even worse in the
countryside. Aside from the increasing drop-out rate, our government
has to address the mediocre performance of pupils especially in the
core disciplines of Science and Mathematics. It is a fact that the
performance of our elementary school children is deteriorating with
Filipino pupils ranking near the bottom among 25 countries surveyed.
Indeed there is a need to check the decline in the quality of our
education or the damage would be irreversible. It will take several
generations before the nation can recover from the consequences of a
poorly educated citizenry.


This bill provides for a nationwide school-feeding program, which is
intended to address the problem of malnutrition, declining scholastic
performance and low cohort survival rate among school children. It is
intent of the bill to make this feeding program a community based
program to ensure its sustainability.

For the foregoing reasons, passage of the propo easures is
earnestly requested.

-SOCELYN GE@RGE P. ARNAIZ
1s District 2N# District
Oriental Negros Oriental Negros

\SY-LIMKAICHONG


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

Fifteenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _{ 53)

Introduced by Rep. GEORGE P. ARNAIZ
Rep. JOCELYN SY-LIMKAICHONG

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NATIONWIDE SCHOOL
FEEDING PROGRAM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the “National
School Feeding Program of the Philippines”.

SECTION 2, Statement of policy. It is hereby declared a policy
of the State to promote and strengthen proper nutrition among
schoolchildren in order to safeguard them from ill effects of
malnutrition. There is a direct correlation between good nutrition and
propensity of the child to develop into a physically and mentally
healthy individual.

It is also declared a policy of the state to encourage
domestic consumption of agricultural products and other nutritious
food in order to effectively meet the nutritional requirements of
children.

SECTION 3. The Program. A Nationwide School Feeding
Program (referred to as the Program) is hereby established, where the
National Nutrition. Council (NNC) and the Department of Education
(DepEd) in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) shall
initiate, maintain and expand a system of rice and legumes
supplements to public elementary school children for a minimum of
one-hundred-twenty (120) feeding days, five (5) times a week. The
Program shall be a community-based undertaking and shall be


administered inside the classrooms. The Program likewise aims to
make parents and school pupils aware of the importance of good
nutrition, as well as proper hygiene by providing relevant and user-
friendly nutrition information and education materials.

SECTION 4. Objectives of the Program. The Program shall:

a) Provide free noon meal to all public elementary school pupils;

b) Each pupil will be given lunch based on a menu determined by
the NNC in coordination with the Department of Education,
ensuring that the meal meets the required nutritional level for

school pupils;

ro)

‘The school pupils shall eat their ration;
Provided, that if a school child was absent, the school feeding
coordinator in each school shall ensure that their share for that
day shall be added to their share the next feeding day when
they reported back to class;
Provided, further, that only twice the usual serving portion shall
be allowed to an absentee school child;
Provided, finally that in case of prolonged absence, the meal
shall be given on a staggered basis, doubling their share every
feeding day until the school pupil catches up with the others;

SECTION 5. Social Mobilization and Preparation. Orientation-
training shall be held among DepEd health and nutrition unit
personnel at the regional and division levels, concerned local
government representatives, and the parent-teacher associations
(PTAs), in order to orient them on the Program’s objectives and
mechanics and generate support for the Program. An orientation-
workshop shall be conducted at the district and school levels for the
district and school level heads, concerned local government
representatives, and Presidents of the PTAs. The output shall be the
school’s plan of action containing the roles and responsibilities of the
concerned school personnel, LGU representative, and PTA officers.
Training and orientation shall be conducted by the DepEd core of
trainors, with personnel trained at the school division level being
responsible for training the staff at the district, and municipal level;
and those trained at the municipal level training the implementers and
feeding coordinators at the school level. The feeding coordinator shall
conduct the briefing among parents and children, including
determining the baseline knowledge of the children and their parents
on nutrition through a pre-test and delineating the roles among
parents during the duration of the feeding program. Feeding
paraphernalia consisting of placemats, table napkin, spoon, fork,
bowls, mugs, and drinking glasses should be provided by the pupils.


SECTION 6. Simultaneous Examination. A simultancous
health examination and de-worming of all school pupils shall be done
before the start of the feeding program, and shall be conducted by the
respective school nurses. Children found with ailments shall be given
proper treatment or referred to hospitals. Class Advisers shall note the
progress of each pupil for the entire duration of the implementation of
this program. There should be a quarterly progress report to be
submitted by each school to the Division Superintendent.

SECTION 7. Inter-Departmental Coordination. For the effective
implementation of this Act, the Department of Agriculture,
Department of Education, and Department of Interior and Local
Government, through various Local Government Units should
coordinate with each other in carrying out this feeding program. The
role of each agency, among others, shall be:

a) Department of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture shall
provide technical assistance and training to schools in the
cultivation and preparation of foods high in complex
carbohydrates, high protein, low-fat versions commonly used for
the feeding program, to assist the schools in complying with the
nutritional requirements prescribed by the NNC in providing
appropriate meals to the school pupils.

SECTION 8. Procurement and Storage of Food Supplies.
Procurement of the food supplies shall be done by the respective
Provincial governments in coordination with the Department of
Education and the Department of Agriculture. Food requirements
should be sourced locally, provided that these are available in the
locality.

Provided, that the PTA shall be the direct suppliers of the food

requirements. If food requirements cannot be sourced locally,

alternative sources from other suppliers shall be made available in
coordination with the Department of Agriculture, Provided further,
that the price of the food supplied shall not exceed 90% of the
prevailing market price at the time of sale. The various local
government units shall be the conduit of the food supplies in
coordination with the local Parent- Teachers-and Community
Association (PTCA).

SECTION 9. Utilization of food in abundance or donated. Each
school participating under the Program shall insofar as practicable,
utilize its Program, foods designated from time to time by the
Secretary of Agriculture, as being in abundance, either nationally or in
the school area, or foods donated by the private entities with the
consent of the DepEd and NNC.

SECTION 10. Participation of the Local Government Unit.
Local Government Units where school districts are located shall


y

provide a counterpart fund of at least twenty percent (20%) of the cost
incurred for the Program implemented within their jurisdiction.

SECTION 11. Priority Areas. In case of shortage of funds, the
implementation of the Program shall first be undertaken in the
province wehre malnutrition rates are most severe, as may be
determined by the NNC.

SECTION 12. Appropriations. An initial sum of One Hundred
Million Pesos (P100,000,000) is hereby appropriated for the first year
of implementation of the Program. Thereafter, all appropriations shall
be taken from the annual appropriation of the NNC. Provided, that
all administrative expenses of the Program shall be taken from the
DepEd annual appropriations.

SECTION 13. Separability Clause. If any part or section of this Act
is declared unconstitutional, such declaration shall not affect the
other parts or sections of this Act.

SECTION 14. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees,
executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with any
provisions of this Act shall be deemed released or modified accordingly

SECTION 14. Effectivity Clause. This act shall take effect fifteen

(15) days after its publication in two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,