Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ----
Introduced by Representative Joseph Gilbert F. Violago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The right to adequate food is properly enshrined in the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, considered as "milestone document in the history of human rights." 
According to Article 25 of the document, "Everyone has the right to a standard ofliving 
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, 
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services [ ... ] . "1 
The same universal right is enunciated in Article 11 of the International 
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: "The States Parties to the present 
Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself 
and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous 
improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to 
ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of 
international co-operation based on free consent. "2
Right to food is interrelated to other human rights, in such a way that violating 
the right to food may impair the enjoyment of other rights, such as the right to health, 
education or life and vice versa.3 Thus, the implementation of the right to adequate food 
"will require the adoption of a national strategy to ensure food and nutrition security for 
all."4
The Philippines has become a State party to the International Covenant on 
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1974 by way of ratification5• The 
1987 Constitution provides that the State shall promote a just and dynamic social order 
that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from 
1 the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948
(General Assembly resolution 217 A) 
2 ADOPTED 16 December 1966 BY General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI)
3 UN Human Rights. "Right to Adequate Food: Human Rights Fact Sheet No. 34" Web. Page 5. Accessed thru
<https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/FactSheet34en.pdf> 
4 Id., page 26.
5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. "The Right to Food around the Glone". Web. Accessed
<https://www .fao.org/right-to-food-around-the-globe/ countries/ph I/ en/> 
July 24, 2024
8:00 am
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _________ 
Introduced by Representative Joseph Gilbert F. Violago 
AN ACT  
PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROMOTION AND 
PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD 
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 “Right to Adequate Food 
Act”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — Consistent with the principles enshrined in the 
Constitution as well as the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, 
Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention 
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to which the 
Philippines is a State Party, it is hereby declared the policy of the State to guarantee the 
right to adequate food. 
Adequate food is not a matter of charity, but a legal entitlement. Hunger is inconsistent 
with human dignity and human rights, and must be eliminated. Towards this end, the 
State shall provide for a framework to address and eliminate hunger in an organized 
manner, and protect the right of the people to adequate food. 
SECTION 3. Definitions. — As used in this Act: 
a.
Dietary needs refer to a mix of nutrients for physical and mental growth,
development and maintenance, and physical activity, that follow human
physiological needs at all stages throughout the life cycle, and according
to gender and occupation;
b.
Food refers to solid, liquid and semi-liquid nourishment, as well as
drinking water, and when taken into the body serves to nourish, build and
repair tissues, supply energy, or regulate body processes;
c.
Food blockade refers to an act of cutting off food supplies from a
particular area by force, either in part or totally;
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d. 
Food emergency refers to a situation in which access to food is 
endangered, as that caused by natural events like drought, floods, storms, 
earthquakes, or crop failures resulting from pests or diseases; or by human 
agency such as internal or international armed conflict; or infectious 
disease outbreaks or pandemics, such as Severe Acute Respiratory 
Syndrome (SARS) and Coronavirus disease (COVID-19); 
e. 
Food sovereignty refers to the right of people to healthy and culturally 
appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable 
methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems, 
putting-the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and 
consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the 
demands of markets and corporations; 
f.  
Hunger refers to a condition in which people do not get enough food to 
eat to provide the necessary nutrients for fully productive, active and 
healthy living due to the unavailability and inaccessibility of food, which 
may be (a) acute, such as during a major disaster when food supply 
channels are cut, (b) chronic, when people are regularly not getting 
enough food to conduct an active life for a long time, or (c) a condition of 
starvation, which is not having enough food of any sort to eat, or (d) 
undernourishment, which is having enough food to eat, but of inadequate 
quality; and 
g.  
Vulnerable groups refer to those who are particularly disadvantaged such 
as indigenous peoples, ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, persons 
with disabilities, persons living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 
(HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), refugees and 
internally displaced people, elderly, women, including pregnant and 
lactating mothers and children, particularly those from zero to twenty-
three (23) months of age. 
SECTION 4. Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food. — Every person 
has the right to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by 
means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate, sufficient 
and safe food, corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to which a consumer 
belongs, and which ensure physical and mental, individual and collective, fulfilling and 
dignified life, free of fear. 
The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in 
community with others, have physical and economic access at all times to adequate 
food, or means for its procurement. The right to adequate food must not be interpreted 
in a narrow or restrictive sense, which equates it with a minimum package of calories, 
proteins and other specific nutrients. The right to adequate food must be realized 
progressively. 
SECTION 5. Core Content on the Right to Adequate Food. — The core content of 
the right to adequate food includes the concepts of food availability and accessibility, 
which must be in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of 


individuals, and in ways that are sustainable, and do not interfere with the enjoyment of 
other human rights. 
SECTION 6. Food Adequacy Standard. — Central to the realization of the right to 
adequate food is the standard of adequacy in terms of quality, quantity and cultural 
acceptability, sustainability of food availability and access. 
The standard of adequacy includes a number of factors which must be considered in 
determining whether particular foods or diets that are accessible can be considered the 
most appropriate under given circumstances. Sustainability is intrinsically linked to the 
concept of adequate food or food security, implying that food must be accessible to both 
present and future generations. 
The concept of adequacy to a large extent is determined by prevailing social, economic, 
cultural, climatic, ecological and other conditions, while sustainability incorporates 
long-term availability and accessibility. 
SECTION 7. Availability Standard. — Food must be available for feeding oneself 
directly from productive land or other natural resources, or for well-functioning 
distribution, processing and market systems that can move food from the site of 
production to where it is needed in accordance with demand. 
SECTION 8. Accessibility Standard. — Food accessibility is both economic, which 
refers to the acquisition pattern or entitlement through which people procure their food, 
and physical, where food must be accessible to everyone. 
Economic accessibility means that the personal or household financial cost associated 
with the acquisition of food for an adequate diet should be at a level such that the 
attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened, or compromised. 
Economic accessibility applies to any acquisition pattern or entitlement through which 
people procure their food, and is a measure of the extent to which it is satisfactory for 
the enjoyment of the right to adequate food. 
Physical accessibility means that adequate food must be accessible to everyone, 
including physically vulnerable individuals, such as infants and young children, elderly 
people, those belonging to the informal sector, the physically disabled, the terminally 
ill and persons with persistent medical problems, including the mentally ill. Victims of 
natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other specially disadvantaged 
groups, and many indigenous peoples groups whose access to their ancestral lands is 
threatened, need special attention and priority consideration with respect to accessibility 
of food. 
Socially vulnerable groups such as landless persons and other particularly impoverished 
segments of the population may need attention through special programs. 
SECTION 9. Cultural or Consumer Acceptability. — In providing food, there is a 
need to consider, as far as possible, the perceived non- nutrient-based values attached 
to food, and the consumer's concerns on the accessible food supplies. 
Food must be free from adverse substances to ensure food safety. Measures must be 
taken to maintain, adapt or strengthen dietary diversity and appropriate consumption 


and feeding patterns, including optimal breast-feeding, to ensure that changes in 
availability and access to food supply do not negatively affect dietary composition and 
intake. Care must also be taken to identify and avoid or destroy naturally occurring 
toxins. 
Freedom from adverse substances implies that the requirements for food safety and a 
range of protective measures are implemented to prevent contamination of foodstuff 
through adulteration, bad environmental hygiene, or inappropriate handling at different 
stages throughout the food chain. 
SECTION 10. Conditions for the Exercise of the Right to Adequate Food. — Every 
person has the right to live in conditions that shall enable the person to: 
a. 
Acquire food directly from productive land or other natural resources; or 
rely on well-functioning food distribution, processing and market 
systems, or both; 
b. 
Financially acquire a sufficient quantity and quality of food and to satisfy 
other basic needs; 
c. 
Be safe from the risk of losing access to food, as a consequence of sudden 
shocks, like an economic or climatic crisis, or one that is brought about 
by internal displacements of people, or cyclical events, such as seasonal 
food insecurity; 
d. 
Have the opportunity of good food utilization through access to adequate 
diet, clean water, sanitation and health care and to reach a state of 
nutritional well-being, where all physiological needs are met; and 
e. 
Access food or diet that is the most appropriate under given 
circumstances, in terms of their nutritional value and cultural 
acceptability, 
Every infant, girl and boy, has a right to adequate food and to optimal health, 
development and nutrition adequate for their age, growth and development. 
Every woman has a right to adequate food and adequate nutrition during pregnancy and 
lactation. 
Unless it is provided by law, or is necessary for the purpose of a compelling public 
interest, and is compatible with the nature of the right to adequate food, there is no 
limitation on the right to adequate food. 
SECTION 11. Freedom from Hunger. — Every person has a right to be free from 
hunger. Every person suffering from hunger or under nutrition, or at risk of suffering 
from hunger or under nutrition is entitled to a minimum amount of food according to 
one's age, sex, health status and occupation, as provided for in Section 19 of this Act. 
SECTION 12. Principles. — The provisions of this Act are founded on the rights-based 
principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human 
dignity, empowerment and rule of law, and are consistent with the progressive 
realization of the right to adequate food. 


SECTION 13. Non-discrimination. — Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made 
on the basis of race, color, sex, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, 
national or social origin, property, birth or other status, which has the effect or purpose 
of impairing or limiting the capacity of an individual to exercise the right to adequate 
food, is unlawful and shall be sanctioned in accordance with law. 
All forms of discrimination against women with regard to the right to adequate food, 
including less favorable treatment of women for reasons of pregnancy and maternity, 
shall be eliminated and prevented. The equality of opportunities between men and 
women shall be promoted. 
The prohibition of discrimination shall not include government action to remedy past 
effects of discrimination against particular individuals or groups and to promote 
equality of opportunities with regard to the right to adequate food. 
SECTION 14. Governmental Obligations. — The State, as the primary duty bearer, 
has the duty to respect, protect and fulfill the right to adequate food and maintain food 
sovereignty, in accordance with the conditions provided under Section 10 of this Act. 
The State has the core obligation to take the necessary action to mitigate and alleviate 
hunger, even in times of natural or other disasters. The right to be free from hunger 
ensures a minimum daily nutritional intake and the bare survival of a person. The right 
to adequate food goes beyond freedom from hunger. 
a. 
Respect — The State has the obligation not to interfere with or impair the 
enjoyment of the right to adequate food. No public authority may deprive 
any person of food or means for its procurement, apply laws and 
regulations, or pursue a policy or practice, in a way that may result in 
preventing the enjoyment of or infringing the human right to adequate 
food, or repeal formally or suspend legislation necessary for the continued 
enjoyment of the right to adequate food. 
b. 
Protect — The State has the duty to provide guarantees against threats 
and risks stemming from private actors or societal forces that are 
controllable by State action. It shall take preventive measures necessary 
to protect persons whose capacities to access sufficient and adequate food 
or means for its procurement are endangered by the acts of others. It also 
must review the relevant administrative and legislative framework 
ensuring that activities within their competence undertaken by private 
actors do not infringe on the right to adequate food of others. 
c. 
Fulfill — The State shall facilitate the enjoyment of the right to adequate 
food by adopting or pursuing appropriate policies and measures that 
promote the human right to adequate food and to create and maintain 
conditions under which every person can freely and regularly enjoy the 
right to adequate food. 
SECTION 15. Targets. — The State shall ensure that in two and a half years (2 ½) 
after the effectivity of this Act, the incidence of hunger is reduced by twenty-five 
percent (25%), from the level recorded at the time of the passage of this Act: Provided, 


That five (5) years after the effectivity of this Act, such incidence of hunger will be 
further reduced by twenty-five percent (25%): Provided, further, That in seven and a 
half (7 ½) years, the incidence of hunger will be further reduced by twenty-five percent 
(25%): Provided, finally, That in ten (10) years, there shall be zero hunger incidence. 
The State shall also ensure that within ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act, 
land devoted to food production is increased to fifty percent (50%) of all prime 
agricultural land in every region, and, within the same period, the State shall ensure that 
the following indicators are considerably and steadily increased: 
a. 
Percentage of development of ancestral lands; 
b. 
Percentage of rural population with access to productive resources; 
c. 
Share of budget spent on programs aimed at creating access to productive 
resources; 
d. 
Percentage of budget spent on agri-research, agri-extension, irrigation, 
training, technology, credits and rural development; 
e. 
Percentage of rural female-headed households, or rural women, with legal 
title to agriculture lands; 
f. 
Percentage of public budget allocation for social transfer programs to 
those unable to feed themselves; 
g. 
Coverage of marginalized and disadvantaged population taking part in 
social transfer programs; 
h. 
Percentage of marginalized and disadvantaged population covered by a 
public nutrition supplement program; 
i. 
Percentage of population aware of available food and nutrition programs; 
and 
j. 
Coverage of school feeding programs. 
The percentage rates used as indicators herein shall also be stipulated in the rules and 
regulations issued to implement the provisions of this Act. 
Periodic reviews shall be undertaken to ensure compliance with set targets. In the 
implementation of this Act, priority shall be given to identify areas with chronically 
malnourished population. In measuring the incidence of hunger, the key primary data 
sources will include national nutrition surveys, household surveys of the Philippine 
Statistics Authority (PSA), namely the Family Income and Expenditure Survey and the 
Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, and global hunger indices as benchmarks. 
SECTION 16. Institutional Responsibilities. — The following agencies of the 
government are required to fulfil their respective mandates in a manner that shall ensure 
full implementation of the primary objectives of this Act: 
a. 
Department of Agriculture (DA); 
  
b. 
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); 


c, 
Department of Budget and Management (DBM); 
d. 
Department of Education (DepEd); 
e. 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); 46 
f. 
Department of Health (DOH); 
g. 
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); 
h. 
Department of Justice (DOJ); 
i. 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); 
j. 
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); 
k. 
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD);  
l. 
Department of Science and Technology (DOST); 
m. 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); 
n. 
Commission on Human Rights (CHR); 
o. 
Commission on Higher Education (CHED); 
p. 
National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC); 
q. 
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); 
r. 
National Food Authority (NEA); 
s. 
National Nutrition Council (NNC); 
t. 
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); and 
u. 
other agencies and instrumentalities of the government whose functions 
are necessary for the efficient and effective implementation of the right to 
adequate food. 
In addition, the development of a fully integrated whole-of-government approach to 
implement the national policy governing the right to adequate food and the use of a 
human rights-based approach for the establishment and implementation of the national 
policy must be institutionalized. 
SECTION 17. Commission on the Right to Adequate Food. — There is hereby created 
a Commission on the Right to Adequate Food, hereinafter referred to as the 
Commission, which shall be attached to the Office of the President. 
The Commission shall be the primary policy-making and coordinating body to 
guarantee full exercise of the right to adequate food. It shall exercise monitoring and 
oversight functions, apply human rights principles, conduct objective impact 
assessment on all government policies, programs and projects prior to adoption and 
implementation, work in close cooperation, and coordination with relevant government 
agencies and in consultations with civil society organizations and the private sector, and 
use all available resources for the efficient and effective implementation of this Act. 


It shall formulate a national food policy consistent with the policy formulated by the 
Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger. The Commission shall implement programs 
of action to eradicate hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote 
sustainable agriculture. 
The Commission on the Right to Adequate Food shall have the following powers: 
a. 
Receive complaints of violations of the right to adequate food from 
individuals and groups; 
b. 
Investigate, motu proprio, or upon complaint by any party, all forms of 
violations of the right to adequate food; 
c. 
Adopt operational guidelines and rules of procedure, and cite for 
contempt individuals and groups for their violations in accordance with 
the Rules of Court; 
d. 
Provide appropriate legal measures for the protection of the right to 
adequate food of all persons within the Philippines, as well as Philippine 
citizens residing abroad, and provide for preventive measures and legal 
aid services to the under privileged whose right to adequate food has been 
violated or needs protection; 
e. 
Establish a continuing program of research, education and information to 
enhance respect for the primacy of the right to adequate food; 
f. 
Recommend to Congress effective measures to promote the right to 
adequate food, to harmonize existing laws affecting the right to adequate 
food, to ensure their complementation, and the availability of remedies 
for violations and compensation to victims of violations of the right to 
adequate food; 
g. 
Monitor the Government's compliance with its obligations in regard to the 
right to adequate food; 
h. 
Request the assistance of any department, bureau, office or agency in the 
performance of its functions; 
i. 
Appoint officers and employees in accordance with law; and 
  
j. 
Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by law. 
SECTION 18. Composition. — The Commission is composed of a chairperson and 
two (2) members who must be natural-born citizens; at least thirty-five (35) years of 
age, at the time of their appointment; and must not have been candidates for any elective 
position in the elections immediately preceding their appointment. At least one (1) of 
them must be a member of the Philippine Bar. 
The Chairperson and members of the Commission shall not, during their tenure, hold 
any other office or employment. Neither shall they engage in the practice of any 
profession, or in the active management or control of any business which, in any-way, 
may affect the functions of their office, nor shall they be financially interested, directly 


or indirectly, in any contract with, or in any franchise or privilege granted by the 
government, any of its subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities, including 
government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries. 
The Chairperson and members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President 
and shall not be reappointed to another term. From among the members, one (1) shall 
serve as the chairperson and shall hold office for ten (10) years, another member shall 
be appointed as Commissioner for seven (7) years, and another shall be appointed 
Commissioner and shall serve for five (5) years, without reappointment. A member who 
shall be appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only the unexpired portion of the term of 
the predecessor. In no case shall any member be appointed or designated in a temporary 
or acting capacity. 
The Chairperson and members of the Commission shall receive the same salary, 
benefits, privileges and emoluments of a cabinet secretary and undersecretary, 
respectively. 
SECTION 19. Standards on the Amount of Food. — Within one (1) year from the 
effectivity of this Act, the Commission shall, in consultations with the DSWD, DILG, 
NNC and the DOH, issue guidelines on the minimum amount of food for persons who 
are suffering from hunger or undernourishment, or are at risk from suffering from 
hunger or undernourishment, but who cannot take care of their own needs, due to 
reasons beyond their control, including children whose parents die or disappear, or 
otherwise no longer take care of them, elderly, and persons with disabilities. The 
guidelines include: 
1) 
The exact quantity of calories, proteins and micronutrients, to which the 
minimum amount of food will correspond, according to the age, sex, 
health status and occupation of a person; 
2) 
A simple and accessible application or certification procedure for the 
minimum amount of food entitlement with transparent, fair and non-
discriminatory eligibility or certification criteria; and 
3) 
Relief mechanisms to ensure that such individuals are provided with their 
minimum food requirement. 
Specific support measures shall be designed and adopted to prevent or compensate for 
disadvantages of the identified vulnerable persons or groups suffer from, with regard to 
the enjoyment of their right to adequate food. 
SECTION 20. Emergencies. — The Commission in coordination with the National 
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) shall: 
a. 
Provide food emergency responses which sufficiently cover both early 
warning responses and disaster preparedness in case of a crisis; and 
organize and manage food responses efficiently and effectively; 
b. 
Ensure that food supply responses are compatible with the right to 
adequate food and international standards regulating emergencies; and 


c. 
Initiate requests for international assistance in case of necessity, and 
supervise and coordinate properly the distribution of food to intended 
recipients. 
SECTION 21. Information Dissemination. — All government agencies, under the 
direction of the Commission in coordination with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) 
and Philippine Information Agency (PIA), shall: 
a. 
Inform the population about the rights established in this Act and the 
implementing rules and regulations adopted upon its passage into law and 
other measure taken for the purpose of facilitating and promoting the 
realization of the right to adequate food; and 
b. 
Use the most appropriate ways and methods of disseminating information 
by providing information through all media forms, and in local languages, 
notably in the most marginalized areas and among populations with a high 
rate of illiteracy. 
SECTION 22. Education and Awareness Program. — The Commission, in 
coordination  with the DepEd, CHED and TESDA, shall ensure that: 
a. 
School curriculum includes material related to food and nutrition 
education, the right to adequate food and human rights principles; and 
b. 
Relevant adult education and training programs shall include materials 
related to food and nutrition, the right to adequate food and human rights 
principles. 
SECTION 23. International Cooperation. — The Commission, in coordination with 
the CHR and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), shall: 
a. 
Ensure that activities undertaken in other countries, including those by 
private actors, do not infringe on the enjoyment of the right to adequate 
food by people in the concerned countries, in coordination with DA, DTI, 
DOH and NEDA and other relevant agencies; 
b. 
Promote international cooperation and help ensure the realization of the 
right to adequate food in other countries, if in a position to do so; and 
c. 
Ensure that international and other agreements which the Philippine 
Government enters into, consider the guarantee on the right to food. 
SECTION 24. Monitoring and Evaluation System. — There shall be an integrated 
monitoring system that shall ensure that all government agencies at all levels, under the 
supervision of the Commission on the Right to Adequate Food, shall: 
a. 
Collect data related to food and nutrition security, using monitoring 
methodologies and processes consistent with human rights principles; 
b. 
Disaggregate collected data by age, sex, income, bracket, civil status and 
ethnicity; 


c. 
Monitor progress achieved in the realization of the right to adequate food; 
and 
d. 
Establish or identify an early warning mechanism for food supply 
shortages and emergencies. 
SECTION 25. Representation and Participation of People's Organizations and Civil 
Society. — To guarantee public participation, the Commission shall ensure that: 
a. 
All persons can freely and meaningfully participate in all forms of public 
discourse, access information and exercise freedom of association, in 
relation to the formulation and implementation of policies pertaining to 
the right to adequate food; 
b. 
Civil society and other stakeholders actively participate in the institutions 
that oversee the realization of the right to adequate food, as well as in 
formulating capacity building mechanisms and special measures for 
disadvantaged groups; and 
c. 
National public hearings are conducted every two (2) years, at which the 
government is required to report on the progress made with the 
implementation of this Act, and the progressive realization of the right to 
adequate food in the country. 
SECTION 26. Penal Provisions. — The penalty of imprisonment of six (6) months 
and one (1) day to six (6) years, or a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos 
(P100,000.00) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or both, 
at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed on any person who causes the starvation 
or denial of the access to food of any particular individual or group, through the 
commission of any of the following acts: 
a. 
blockade; 
b. 
refusal to implement a food-related program; 
c. 
discrimination in implementing a food-related program; 
  
d. 
negligence in implementing food-related programs, resulting in death; 
e. 
obstructing access to food in time of calamity or war; 
f. 
theft, corruption or black marketeering of food being given as 
humanitarian aid, in times of calamity or war; 
g. 
distribution of expired, or unsafe food at a school feeding program or 
other feeding program, in times of calamity or war; 
h. 
contamination of food or water sources, through mining activities, aerial 
spraying of plantations, or any other similar means; and 
i. 
other analogous acts. 
Provided, That the penalty is imposable without prejudice to any other criminal, civil 
or administrative liability under existing laws. If the act committed is food blockade 


during armed conflict, the penalty imposable shall be without prejudice to the 
application of Republic Act No. 9851, or the "Philippine Act on Crimes against 
International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes against Humanity," and 
other relevant laws. 
SECTION 27. Civil and Administrative Liabilities. — The government shall ensure 
the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed in this Act and perform the duties provided for 
in this Act. Appropriate cases may be filed before the courts to compel compliance with 
the provisions of this Act. These cases shall be without prejudice to liability for damages 
and administrative liability that may be incurred. 
If the violator is a public official or employee, in addition to the penalty of imprisonment 
or fine or both, the accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification to hold 
public office shall be imposed. 
SECTION 28. Appropriations. — There shall be an allocation in the annual budget 
specifically for the purposes of the implementation of the right to adequate food, in 
accordance with set by the Commission on the Right to Adequate Food. The allocation 
shall be aimed at the progressive realization of the right to adequate food over the long 
term. 
SECTION 29. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within sixty (60) days from 
the effectivity of this Act, the Chairperson of the Commission shall, in coordination 
with the CHR, DA, DAR, DSWD, DOH, DTI, DPWH, NEDA, NNC and NAPC, and 
people’s organizations and human rights nongovernmental organizations, promulgate 
the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act. 
SECTION 30. Rationalization Of Policies. — All existing policies, laws, decrees, 
executive orders, memorandum orders, memorandum circulars, administrative orders, 
and ordinances shall be rationalized and interpreted in a way that shall guarantee the 
realization of the right to adequate food as provided for by this Act. Cabinet secretaries 
and other executive authorities involved in the implementation of the right to adequate 
food shall report on a regular basis to the Commission on the Right to Adequate Food 
on legislative and regulatory measures that have been formulated and adopted, and the 
time frames within which they are envisaged to achieve their objectives in order to 
achieve zero hunger. 
SECTION 31. Separability Clause. — If any part or provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provisions not affected thereby shall 
remain in full force and effect. 
SECTION 32. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, memorandum 
orders, memorandum circulars, administrative orders, ordinances, or parts thereof, 
which are inconsistent with the right to adequate food and the provisions of this Act, 
are hereby deemed repealed or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 33. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved,