Republic of the Philippin
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Quezon City, Metro Manila

16" Congress
‘rst Regular Session

—1154

Introduced by Cong. PRYDE HENRY A. TEV

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 tor their holistic development
Proper nourishment of our school children should be a primordial concern of our government i
order to enhance scholastic performance. There is a significant relationship between a chi
readiness to learn and how much 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 1o 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
sehool.

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 (0 learn due to their poor health and nutrition and this has a serious
implication as they advance in the educational level, Our education system is besieged with
educational malaise as reflected in the elementary enrolment protile. 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 inere:

sing drop-out rat
has to address the mediocre performance of pupils especially in the core disciplines of Seience

our government

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 fron) the consequences
of a poorly educated citizenry

This bill provides (or 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 bused
program to ensure ils sustainability,

For the foregoing reasons, passage of the proposed measures is earnestly requested.

PRYDE Hi



Republie of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIV
Quezon City, Philippines

16th Congress
First Regular Session

House Bill No. L154

troduced by Cong. PRYDE HENRY

TEVES

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 Feelin
Program of the Philippines

SECTION 2. Statement of poliey. 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

Itis 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 (relierred 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 sehool children tor a
minimum of one-hundred-twenty (120) feeding days, five (5) times a week. ‘The Progrant
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

jee noon meal to all public elementary schoo! 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 schoo! pup

©) ‘The schoo! pupils shall eat their ration;
Provided, that if a school child was absent, the school feeding coordinator in each
school shalt 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 mechanies and generate support for the
Program. An orientation-workshop shall be conducted at the district and schoo! levels for the
district and school level heads, concerned local government representatives, and Presidents ol
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
raining and orientation shall be conducted by the DepEd core of wainors, with personnel
trained at the school division level being responsible for training the staf? at the district, and
municipal level; and those trained at the municipal level training the implementers and
feeding coordinators at the school level. The leeding coordinator shall conduct the briefing
among parents and children, including determining the baseline knowledge of the children
and their parents on nutrition through @ pre-test and delineating the roles among. par
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 tne
pupils

nls

SECTION 6. Simultaneous Examination, A simultaneous health examination and
de-worming of all school pupils shall be done betore the start of the feeding program, and
shall be conducted by the respective schoo! 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
auarterly 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 ageney. 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 loods high in
complex carbohydrates, high protein, low-fat versions commonly used tor the



[eeding program, to assist the schools in complying with the nutritional requirements

prescribed by the NNC in providing appropriate meals to the school pupil.

SECTION 8. Procurement and Storage of Food Suppli Procurement of the food
supplies shall be done by the respective Provincial governments in coordination with the
Department of Education and the Department of Agricullure, 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. Ut food
requirements cannot be sourced locally, alternative sourees trom other suppliers shail 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 prive at the
time of sale. The various local goveenment units shall be the conduit of the food supplies
in coordination with the local Parent- Feachers-and Community Association (PTCA)

SECTION 9, Utilization of food in abundance or donated, Each schoo! partivipatiny
under the Program shall insoliur as practicable, utilize its Program, foods designated tron
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 Depkd and NNC

SECTION 10. Participation of the Local Government Unit, Local Government Units
where schoo! districts are located shall provide a counterpart fund of at least bwenly pereeut
(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 where malnutrition rates are most severe a»
may be determined by the NNC

SECTION 12. Appropriations, An initial sum of One Hundred Million Peso:
(P100,000,000) is hereby appropriated for the first year of implementation oF the Program.
Thereatier. all appropriations shall be wien fiom the annual appropriation of the NNC
Provided, that all administrative expenses of the Program shall be taken from the Dephd
annual appropriations,

SECTION 13. Separability Clause. 1 any part or section of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, such declaration shall not affect the ather parts or sections of this Act

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

SECTION I4. Effeetivity Clause. This act shall take effeet fifteen (15
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation

days after its

Approved.