HOUSL WF RSPROSENTATIVES

Republic of the Philippines RECCIVED

HOUSE OF REPRESENTA’ pare__98 AUG 2016
CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINHS '
Quezon City, Metro Manila

BY: wh
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

First Regular Session

TINE:

House Bill No. 2616

Introduced by Honorable REYNALDO V. UMALI

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Malnutrition in the Philippines remains a serious problem. According
to the 2014-2015 data of the Department of Health and the Philippine
Statistics Authority, a large number of Filipino children are undernourished:
3.6 million of children 0-59 months are underweight; and 4 million are
stunted. The damage to physical growth, health, and brain development of
children affected by chronic under-nutrition—stunting in the first two
years—is often irreversible, leaving them with lower chances becoming
highly-productive adults and impairing them for life. Studies show that
populations affected by iodine deficiency have 10 - 15 IQ points less than
those not affected. Stunting, iron and iodine deficiencies impact intelligence
and learning abilities of children.

The nutrition status of Filipino children varies greatly—with higher
income groups having advantage over those from poor communities,
revealing major disparities across the country. These gaps reflect disparities
in nutrient and energy intake between children from the affluent and poor
households. The nutrition condition of children is badly affected not only by
the lack of food but they are also placed at risk by poor feeding and health
care practices. This necessitates the government to take action and create
food supplementation programs to the nutritionally vulnerable group of
children nationwide.

In view of the foregoing, a National Feeding Program for public
kindergarten and elementary and elementary pupils should be prioritized
and institutionalized. This National School Feeding Program (NSFP) shall be
a major food security policy that will work to reduce the number of


malnourished children and improve the school enrolment rate. The program
will make available nutritionally balanced, low-cost/free food and milk to
school children.

The NSFP shall be implemented to improve the health and nutritional
status of children within the nutritionally vulnerable target age group and
from duly-identified sites/areas. While we are addressing malnutrition
problems, NSFP is also encouraging support for other community
development initiatives such as giving additional income and livelihood
opportunities to local farmer associations who will be the possible sources of
food and milk supplies.

Hence, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

REYNALDO V. UMALI

Representative
Second Disffict, Province of Oriental Mindoro


Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 2616

Introduced by Honorable REYNALDO V. UMALI

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE NATIONAL SCHOOL FEEDING
PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC KINDERGARTEN AND ELEMENTARY PUPILS
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

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 the “National School
Feeding Program (NSFP) Act”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
promote the rights of children to survival, development, and special
protection with full recognition on the nature of childhood and its special
needs.

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 effects of malnutrition
and to enhance as well their learning capacities.

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

(a) Fortified food refers to food with deliberately increased content of
essential micronutrient, i.e. 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 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;

(c) 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 NSFP. - The NSFP 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
NSFP.

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 and facilities that may be used for the NSFP;

(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 the NHTS-PR or Listahanan;

(4) The Department 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;

(e) 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

(g) The National Nutrition Council (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.

The DepED, the participating national government agencies, and other
concerned stakeholders shall execute a Memorandum of Agreement
specifying the necessary arrangements relative to the operation of the NSFP.

SEC. 7. Mechanics of the NSFP. - In addition to its interdepartmental
coordinative and consultative tasks during the operation of the NSFP, the
DepED shall oversee the following activities:

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

(b) 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
mechanics. 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;

(c) 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;

(4) Conduct simultaneous health examinations, including deworming
and vaccination activities, to participating pupils during the orientation
meeting set for parents and pupils. The school’s medical staff or the medical
staff of a public health 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 such 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. Procurement, 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 local 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 13. Tax Exemption. - Any donation or bequest made to the
DepED for the NSFP shall be exempt from 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 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. - If 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.

SEC. 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,