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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session
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SENATE
S.B. No.
1279
TIME:
INDEX
(In substitution of Senate Bill Nos. 23,123,160, 220, 406, 416 and 694)
Prepared Jointly by the Committees on Education, Arts and Culture; Youth; Ways and Means; 
Agriculture and Food; Health and D emography and Finance w ith Senators Honasan II, Zubiri, 
Poe, Sotto III, Legarda and Aquino IV as authors thereof
AN ACT CREATING A NATIONAL SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM TO COMBAT HUNGER AND 
UNDERNUTRITION FOR ALL PUBLIC BASIC EDUCATION STUDENTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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Be It enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as "Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang
Pinoy Act."
SEC. 2. Declaration o f Policies. — The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in 
nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, 
intellectual, and social well-being. In recognition of the demonstrated relationship 
between food and nutrition, and the capacity of students to develop and learn, the 
State shall address the problem of hunger and undernutrition, and the attainment of 
educational outcomes among all public basic education students and enhance the 
learning process by developing, establishing, and implementing a national school 
feeding program for all students in the public basic education system throughout the 
country. It is also the policy of the State to free our people from poverty by providing a 
guaranteed market for the products of our farmers, thereby promoting full employment 
in the agricultural sector, presently the sector with the highest poverty incidence.
SEC. 3. National School Feeding Program. — The National School Feeding Program, 
hereinafter referred to as the Program, is hereby created to address hunger and 
undernutrition, and the attainment of educational outcomes in public basic education.


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SEC. 4, Creation o f a National Nutrition Targeting System. -  The National Nutrition 
Council (NNC) shall harmonize all existing nationwide nutrition and poverty databases 
that identify individuals, groups, and/or localities that have the highest magnitude of 
hunger, undernutrition, and poverty.
SEC. 5. Cycle Menu. -  The Department of Education (DepEd), in coordination with NNC 
and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), shall prepare a menu to be served 
to all public basic education students. The menu needs to be drawn up according to age 
range, type of school, and local cultural eating preferences, within recommended 
standards. At least one third (1/3) of the daily requirement shall be provided based on 
the Philippine Dietary Reference Intake (PDRI).
SEC. 6. Technical Training and Assistance on Food Preparation, Safety, and Sanitation. 
-  DepEd, in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH), the Technical Education 
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), other relevant government agencies and 
non-government organizations, shall develop a program to provide the food service 
personnel and/or other suppliers for the feeding program with technical training and 
assistance in the preparation of healthy and nutritious meals, food safety, sanitation, 
and efficient kitchen management.
SEC. 7. National School Feeding Program Modalities. -  Basis education institutions 
with local government units, in coordination with non-government organizations and
other development partners shall utilize any of the following modalities in the operation 
of the Program:
a) Centralized Kitchen in a Public School -  Public basic education institutions 
may share one centralized kitchen in one public school where the 
preparation of meals shall be done.
b) Centralized Kitchen in the Local Government -  Public basic education 
institutions in one local government may acquire the meals from one 
centralized kitchen operated by the local government unit.
c) School-based/ln-house -  Public basic education institutions may operate a 
kitchen in their own grounds.
SEC. 8. Nutrition Promotive Programs,
a) Gulayan sa Paaralan -  Public basic education institutions shall maintain an in- 
house gardening program to augment the National School Feeding Program. 
If such already exists, schools shall strengthen the program. Parents shall be 
encouraged to maintain a similar program in their own households. City or 
municipal Agricultural Officers shall provide assistance in the maintenance of 
the Gulayan sa Paaralan program.


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b) Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) -  Public basic education institutions 
shall establish and maintain water and sanitation facilities, promote good 
hygiene and safe food preparation, and conduct deworming of students 
twice during the school year. This is to address health-related issues such as 
diarrhea, worm 
infestation, and chronic enteropathy that result to 
undernutrition.
c) Micronutrient Supplementation -  Public basic education institutions shall 
provide for micronutrient supplementation among its students in the form of 
micronutrient powder, iron supplementation, and iodized salt utilization. This 
is to address micronutrient deficiency particularly iron deficiency anemia that 
result to sickness and/or undernutrition.
SEC. 9. National Nutrition Distribution System. -  The Program shall be implemented 
initially in locations identified to have the most number of beneficiaries based on the 
National Nutrition Targeting System. A maximum pilot period of three (3) years shall be 
given to the implementing agencies to develop the program that would be 
representative of all possible modalities and area typologies.
SEC. 10. Integrated Nutrition Education, Behavioral Transformation, and Social 
Preparation. -  The Program shall be complemented by public health, nutrition, and 
values transformation campaign programs, which aim to promote a holistic and 
integrated approach to health and nutrition education in the public basic education 
system. For this purpose, relevant and user-friendly nutrition information, education, 
and values formation materials shall be developed and distributed in public schools. 
Orientation-training shall be held among DepEd personnel at the regional and division 
levels, concerned local government representatives, parent volunteers, and the parent- 
teacher associations (PTAs), to orient them on the Program's objectives and mechanics, 
and generate support for the Program.
SEC. 11. Procurement o f Produce. -  The concerned government institution is hereby 
mandated to ensure that preference for procurement of produce is given to producers 
and/or suppliers within the locality.
SEC. 12. Registry o f Local Producers and Suppliers. -  The Department of Agriculture 
(DA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade 
and Industry (DTI), and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), shall keep and regularly 
update a list of local producers and suppliers. It shall use the Registry for Basic Sectors in 
Agriculture (RSBSA), Regional Field Office (RFO) list of beneficiaries, the Bureau of 
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources' National Program for Municipal Fisherfolk Registration
(BFAR FishR) for fisherfolk, and any other list it may deem necessary to keep the resistrv 
up to date.


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SEC. 13. Procurement Process fo r Local Producers and Suppliers. -  For the purposes of 
this Act, procurement from local producers and suppliers shall be exempt from the 
procurement process as stated in Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as the 
Procurement Law. Provided, That the local producers and suppliers shall undergo 
Negotiated Procurement Participation under the guidelines of the Government 
Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) and specified under this Act.
SEC. 14. Negotiated Procurement Participation. -  Local producers and suppliers shall 
enter a Negotiated Procurement with the government under the guidelines of the GPPB 
when the following conditions are met:
a) DA Validation -  certification from the DA and/or any of its tasked agency that
the individual or family is indeed included in the Registry of Local Producers and 
Suppliers;
b) Produce/Product Sustainability -  participants have the ability to continue to 
meet the demand for their produce or product for prolonged periods of time, 
with or without government intervention;
c) Community Enrichment -  there is a viable means of improving the well-being 
of the community where the local producers and/or suppliers are situated. This 
seeks to extend the benefits that may arise from the contract between the local 
producers and/or suppliers and the government. The goal is to achieve positive 
outcomes such as poverty reduction, access to education, equitable distribution, 
and management of natural resources, climate change adaptation/mitigation] 
disaster risk reduction, gender equality, disease reduction, and job generation, 
among others.
SEC. 15. Support Services fo r Local Producers and Suppliers under the Department o f 
Agriculture or Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. -  The DA and DAR shall institute the 
following benefits for local producers and suppliers as contained in their registry:
a) Training on production, harvesting, the procurement process of this Act, and 
any other topic the DA and DAR deem fit;
b) Subsidized farm equipment;
c) Facilities for storage and harvesting;
d) Forming cooperatives;
d) Access to crop insurance; and
e) Access to credit/low interest rates.


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SEC. 16. Local Government Assistance. -  A portion of the Special Education Fund shall 
be reserved for assistance of the local government in the operation of the National 
School Feeding Program in their locality.
SEC. 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within sixty (60) days from the 
effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education, in coordination with the National 
Nutrition Council, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Health, 
Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority! 
Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and 
Development, Department of Trade and Industry, and other relevant government 
agencies, non-government organizations, and development partners shall promulgate 
the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 18. Periodic Review. -  
The Department of Education shall submit an annual 
report to Congress on the progress in the implementation of this Act.
SEC. 19. Appropriations. -  The amount of Ten Billion Pesos (Php 10,000,000,000.00) is 
hereby appropriated for the implementation of this Act and shall be sourced from the 
proceeds of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Philippine Gaming and 
Amusements Corporation (PAGCOR). Initially, a substantial portion shall be sourced 
from the Social Fund of the Office of the President.
Thereafter, such sum necessary for its continuous implementation shall be 
included in the Annual General Appropriations Act.
SEC. 20. Separability Clause. -  If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
remain valid and subsisting.
SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. -  All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations or other 
issuances or parts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or 
modified accordingly.
SEC. 22. Effectivity. -  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication In 
the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
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Approved,