SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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Introduced by SENATOR GREGORIO B. HONASAN II
AN ACT .
PROVIDING FREE FOOD FOR CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DAY CARE 
CENTERS FROM PRODUCTS OF FARMERS PURCHASED BY THE GOVERNMENT 
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “SCHOOL FEEDING PURCHASED FROM POOR 
FARMERS PROGRAM”
EXPLANATORY
According to the United Nations World Food Program, “Brazil is the fastest country in defeating
malnutrition... In Brazil.......rather than investing in Food Subsidies, they invested in a School
Feeding Program.”
Despite tremendous efforts and improvements, the problem of poverty and malnutrition in the 
Philippines remained unchanged for more than a decade now. According to the Philippine 
Statistics Authority Report on the country’s .official poverty statistics, poverty incidence among 
Filipinos in the first semester of 2015 was estimated at 26.3 percent. During the first semester in 
2012, poverty incidence among Filipinos was recorded at 27.9 percent. In the 2015 Global Hunger 
Index, the Philippines faces a “serious level” of hunger. The measuring tool of the International 
Food Policy Research Institute (FPRI) gave the country a score of 20.1 based on available data 
collated by government agencies and non-governmental organizations. The Philippines also ranks 
51st among 117 countries measured. Hunger is a "multidimensional" problem, the index measured 
the situation in each country by combining 4 components: undernourishment, child wasting, child 
stunting, and child mortality. The proportion of undernourished in population stood at 13.5%, the 
prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years old stood at 30.3%. The high incidence of stunting 
-  when a child is too short for his age -  is alarming as it is a sign of chronic malnutrition. At least 
795 million people still suffer from chronic undernourislurient, according to the GHI. In addition, 
one in every 4 children is stunted while 9% of children worldwide are wasted. The index also 
found that there are huge disparities among regions.
In Brazil, their government used a portion of their funds to fight malnutrition and poverty (1/3 of 
the funds) to purchase the produce of farmers and utilized the food they bought from the farmers 
of each locality to feed students of the same locality.
The Department of Science and Technology has launched and continues to fund and develop the 
nutrition pack program. These packages which cost Php6.50 per day are made of rice-mongo- 
sesame blends in 20-gram boxes that come in ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook packages. In October 
2012, the Department of Education launched to Grade 6 pupils that were identified as “severely 
wasted” children. The SBFP developed standardized recipes using malunggay and a 20-day cycle 
menu utilizing vegetables locally grown in school gardens.
It is in this light that this bill mandating the provision of free food for children in public schools 
and day care centers from products of farmers purchased by the government otherwise known as 
“School Feeding Purchased From Poor Fanners Program” is being proposed.
With this strategy, we can hit 3 objectives:
1) Save our children from malnutrition;
2) Educate our children -  feeding them will keep them smart and in school; and