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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'!1 
APR 28 P 5 :()S 
SENATE 
S.B. No. 2''191 
Introduced by SENATOR MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The future lies in the hands of today's children, To prepare them for their role as our future 
leaders, they must be afforded quality nutrition to give them a good start in developing their 
skills and potentials during their tender years, Adequate and quality nutrition is integral to a 
child's total development 
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and 
Technology (DOST), by virtue of Executive Order No, 128, is mandated to conduct research 
every five years on the nutritional status of the population particularly malnutrition. Its latest 
2008 survey results include the following: 
1. The number of Filipino children who were underweight and under height or 
stunted 
increased from 2005 to 2008; 
2. The prevalence of underweight children aged 0-5 years increased from 24.6 
percent to 26.2 percent, about 3.35 million children; 
3. The under height rate increased from 26.3 percent to 27.9 percent, representing 
3.57 million children; and 
4. There was also a significant increase in the prevalence of underweight children 
aged 6-10 years from 22.8 percent in 2005 to 25.6 percent in 2008, equivalent to 2.6 
million. The number of under height children in this age group likewise increased 
from 32 percent to 33.1 percent. 
The research also showed that a very high level of acute malnutrition among preschoolers 
(aged 0-5) was noted in six regions, namely Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern 
Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Soccsksargen where the underweight-for-age 
prevalence was at least 30 percent 
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A high prevalence of under height-for-age or stunted preschoolers was mostly observed in 
Mimaropa, Bicol, and all the regions in the Visayas and Mindanao. 
Chronic malnutrition affected a very high percentage of preschoolers in the provinces of 
Masbate, Biliran, Northern Samar, Western Samar, Zamboanga Sibugay, Sarangani, Abra 
and Mountain Province. 
Meanwhile, the regions with very high prevalence of stunted schoolchildren were Mimaropa, 
Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen. 
According to FNRI, long standing or chronic malnutrition affected a very high percentage of 
school children in 25 provinces, including Abra, Aurora, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro 
Oriental, 


Marinduque, Catanduanes, Masbate, Negros Occidental, Northern Samar, Western Samar, 
Leyte, Bukidnon, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, 
Zamboanga Sibugay, Misamis Occidental, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur 
and Basilan. 
Food is the most basic of all necessities that, unfortunately, cannot be adequately provided 
by all parents to their children all the time. Regular meals have become a privilege to most. 
Children going to school on an empty stomach is a crude testament of the grinding poverty 
besetting most Filipinos. 
This bill legislates a Nationwide Child Nutrition Program in all public elementary schools and 
barangay day care centers throughout the country. This Nutrition Program which makes 
feeding for schoolchildren mandatory is in keeping with the State's declared policy of 
promoting and protecting the rights and welfare of children. 
Immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
, 
IIII1WVVVI ~ 
MANNY 
LLAR 


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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'11 
APR 28 P 5 :05 
SENATE 
S.B. No.2191 
Introduced by SENATOR MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT 
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PROVIDING FOR A MANDATORY NATIONWIDE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM IN ALL 
PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND BARANGAY DAY CARE CENTERS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the "Child Nutrition Law of 2011." 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the declared policy of the State to promote the 
rights of children to survival, development and special protection with full recognition of the 
nature of childhood and its special needs, and to support the nutritional needs of children to 
enhance their learning capacities in compulsory basic education. To this end, the State shall 
institutionalize a mandatory child nutrition program in all and public elementary schools and 
barangay day care centers that is comprehensive, integrative and sustainable on a national 
basis. 
SECTION 3. Objectives. The objectives of the mandatory child nutrition program are: 
1. To achieve improved child attendance and survival rates in day care centers and 
schools by ensuring that adequate health and nutrition programs are accessible to 
young children throughout the early childhood years; 
2. To enhance the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, psychological, spiritual and 
language development of young children; 
3. To enhance the role of public elementary schools and barangay day care centers as 
surrogate caregivers of children; 
4. To facilitate the learning process through healthy body and physical environment; 
5. To ensure that young Children are adequately prepared for the formal learning 
system and that both public elementary schools and barangay day care centers are 
responsive to the developmental needs of these children; and 
6. To establish an efficient system for early identification, prevention, referral and 
intervention for developmental disorders and disabilities in early childhood. 
SECTION 4. Program Framework. The mandatory child nutrition program shall be 
provided for children enrolled or studying in public elementary schools and barangay day 
care centers regardless of age with the consent of parents. The program shall include: 


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1. Complementary feeding to ensure access to food supplements which will improve 
nutritional status. This activity may also be used as a venue for other nutrition-
related activities such as micronutrient supplementation, weighing and growth 
monitoring, deforming of children, and emergency feeding during and after disasters. 
Health and nutrition counseling and education may also form an integral part of this 
activity and health personnel may be tapped as resource persons. 
2. Dietary diversification/backyard gardening to assure availability of nutritious food in 
the local areas. Enhancing community resources accessible to local households and 
managed by the community will be an effective strategy to address lack of nutritious 
food therein. 
The accompanying benchmarks under the mandatory child nutrition program shall 
be determined by the Department of Health in consultation with the Department of 
Education and the barangay having jurisdiction over the barangay day care center or 
the public elementary school. 
SECTION 5. Wholistic Approach. Every agency of the national and local governments 
shall cooperate and extend full support and cooperation and make available such materials, 
data and other resources as may be necessary to ensure the successful implementation of 
this Act. In particular: 
The Department of Health in consultation with the Department of Education and the 
appropriate barangay shall review the plans, programs and implementation of the school or 
day care supplementary feeding program, with the purpose of identifying: 1) ways and 
means of increasing the volume of supplementary feeding with particular attention to local 
food components, 2) priority areas of the country where greater attention is needed, and 3) 
the groups of school children most likely to benefit from supplementary feeding. 
The Department Social Welfare and Development shall assist in monitoring the weight and 
health of children participating in the supplementary school feeding program. 
The Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority shall make available 
warehouse, trucking and facilities. 
The Department of Interior and Local Government shall help enlist the support of local· 
government units in the accomplishment of program objectives. 
The National Econornic and Development Authority shall assist in the determination of 
official development assistance sources to expand the inputs into the school supplementary 
feeding program. 
The Department of Budget and Management shall help prepare work and financial plans 
covering the food assistance program, particularly the peso counterpart requirement 
involved in the freight, insurance, storage and other requirements for effective food handling 
and distribution. 
The Department of Trade and Industry shall look for cost-effective sources for components 
of the mandatory child nutrition program, including but not limited to foodstuffs, vaccines 
and dietary supplements. 
SECTION 6. Selection of Priority Areas. The Department of Health in consultation with . 
the Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development shall 
select at least five (5) regions for each year based on the criteria provided herein in order to 
achieve a national coverage for a period of three (3) years. All barangays within the 
selected region shall establish their respective mandatory child nutrition program within a 
period of six (6) months. 


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The following criteria shall be considered in the selection of priority regions: 
1. Low level of participation of 3-5 year old population in existing day care and pre-
school services; and 
2. Number of provinces and cities with high incidence of poverty, low birth weight, infant 
and under-five (5) mortality, malnutrition, maternal mortality, low participation rate in 
Grade I, and high drop-out rate among Grade I pupils. 
SECTION 7. Self-Starting Barangays. A self-selection alternative is available for 
barangays not selected as priority site for a given year but which can afford to 
institutionalize a mandatory child nutrition program in its locality. 
SECTION 8. Funds for the Mandatory Child Nutrition Program. The funds for the 
establishment, maintenance and operation of the mandatory child nutrition program shall be 
appropriated from the following sources: 
1. Ten percent (10%) of the recorded income of the general fund accruing from interest 
on deposit accounts and performance bonds and any forfeited amounts there from. 
Performance bonds and deposits filed or posted by private persons or entities with 
agencies of the government shall be deposited with an authorized government 
depository bank as trust liabilities and under the name of the agency concerned. 
2. Ten percent (10%) of the total amount specifically identified and authorized 
intelligence and confidential funds as provided for in the budgets of departments, 
bureaus, offices or agencies of the national government, which shall be prorated 
among them. 
3. Fifteen percent (15%) of the total amount automatically appropriated for debt service 
compounding both interest payment and principal amortization thereon. 
SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, rules and regulations, and executive' 
orders contrary to or inconsistent with this Act are repealed or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 10. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its publication 
in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved,