aye

Pern,
Se 5 i

gy RecEwco 7
CATEMAR 0 221

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No._®42?

Introduced by Representative Sharon S. Garin

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to create the Magna Carta of Barangay Nutrition Scholars.
The government and private sectors, in their intent to provide basic health and
nutrition services in all levels, have joined hands to solve the malnutrition problems
of the country with the entire efforts being coordinated by the National Nutrition
Council.

Realizing that the magnitude of the malnutrition problem in the country
urgently needs greater involvement and participation of the people at the grassroots
level, the Barangay Nutrition Scholars Program (BNSP) was created by virtue of
Presidential Decree No. 1569, entitled, “Strengthening the Barangay Nutrition
Program by Providing for a Barangay Nutrition Scholar in Every Barangay,
Providing Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes.” The barangay nutrition
scholar is responsible for delivering basic nutrition and related health services
particularly in far-flung barangays where health services and awareness in the
importance of good nutrition is not readily available.

Since the creation of the BNSP, there has been a significant improvement in
the community awareness of the link between health and nutrition. This accounts
for the reduction of malnutrition in our country. This achievement is particularly
attributable to our hardworking barangay nutrition scholars who are at the forefront
of the fight against malnutrition and lack of health education, traversing
inaccessible roads and braving perilous sea routes, to get to the remote barangays
and perform their duties.


During the Sixteenth Congress, a bill was filed by former Rep. Giorgidi B.
Aggabao of the Fourth Legislative District of Isabela, which sought to create the
“Magna Carta of Barangay Nutrition Scholars.” A similar bill has also been filed
twice during the Seventeenth Congress.

It is high time that we recognize the invaluable role of our barangay nutrition
scholars by providing them with sufficient allowances, benefits, incentives, and
security of tenure, commensurate to their hardwork.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is highly recommended.

ON S. GARIN
AAI WA PARTY-LIST


eIAHEYN=

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8427

Introduced by Representative Sharon S. Garin

AN ACT
CREATING THE MAGNA CARTA OF BARANGAY NUTRITION
SCHOLARS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title.—This Act shall be known as the “Magna Carta of
Barangay Nutrition Scholars.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy.—The State adopts the Barangay Nutrition
Scholar Program as a human resource development strategy of the Philippine Plan
of Action for Nutrition, which involves the training, deployment and supervision of
barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) as originally mandated under Presidential
Decree No. 1569, entitled, “Strengthening the Barangay Nutrition Program by

3


7

18

19

20

Providing for a Barangay Nutrition Scholar in Every Barangay, Providing Funds
Therefor, and for Other Purposes.” Towards this end, the State shall provide
additional incentives, benefits and other forms of assistance to encourage more
qualified and trained individuals to join the ranks of barangay nutrition scholars.

SEC. 3. Qualifications.— For purposes of this Act, a “barangay nutrition
scholar” (BNS) refers to a trained community worker who links the community
with service providers, and with the following qualifications:

1 Bonafide resident of the barangay for at least one (1) year, with ability

to speak the dialect;

z Possesses leadership potentials, initiative, willingness to serve the

barangay for at least one (1) year, and readiness to learn and teach what has

been learned to the barangay people;

oh, At least a high school graduate;

4. Physically and mentally fit; and

) At least eighteen (18) years old but not more than sixty (60) years old.

SEC. 4. Discrimination.— The BNS shall not in any way be
discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, and political affiliation.

SEC. 5. Barangay Nutrition Committee. The BNS shall assist the
barangay captain in organizing or reactivating the barangay nutrition committee

and the barangay network in training purok leaders to assist the BNS.


20

21

The BNS shall also organize the community into networks of twenty to
twenty-five households, or into community-based organizations working for the
improvement of their nutrition situation.

SEC. 6. Community Weight Survey. —The BNS shall identify and locate
underweight children through a community survey. This survey involves the
weighing of all pre-schoolers and interviewing mothers to determine how the child
is cared for and the resources available in the family for their participation in
nutrition and related interventions.

Based on the results of the annual weighing, the BNS shall, on a monthly
interval, weigh all underweight and severely underweight pre-schoolers, all zero to
twenty-four month old children, and conduct a quarterly follow-up weighing of
twenty-five to seventy-one month old children.

The regular weighing provides the basis for corrective actions which may
include implementation of nutrition programs or referral to the appropriate service.

If there are other barangay-based development workers who can deliver
nutrition services to the community, the BNS may serve as a linkage-builder. The
BNS shall ensure that members of the community, especially those with
underweight children, are able to avail themselves of nutrition and related services.
The BNS must at all times be aware of the services available, be able to identify
those who need these services, and establish a system of linking nutrition and those

services.


20

21

SEC. 7. Records and Work Plans. —To help other barangay workers and the
local officials, the BNS shall keep a record of the results of the regular weighing,
and the nutrition and health profile of families in the barangay.

The BNS shall also formulate a BNS action plan as a guide in managing the
different assigned tasks.

The BNS shall also facilitate the formulation, implementation, monitoring,
evaluation, and coordination of the barangay plan of action for nutrition.

SEC. 8. Basic Training Program. — The BNS shall undergo a ten-day
training on identifying, monitoring, and referring the malnourished to appropriate
service providers.

Aside from the ten-day training, the BNS shall also undergo a twenty-day
practicum to learn the proper weighing technique of pre-schoolers and conducting
interviews of mothers on child-rearing matters. During this phase, the BNS shall
collect and analyze data on the barangay nutrition situation using the family and
barangay profile forms, and come up with the appropriate action plan.

The BNS trainer-supervisor or the district nutrition program coordinator
(DNPC) and the city nutrition program coordinator (CNPC) shall organize,
conduct, and supervise the training. In the absence of the DNPC or the CNPC, the
nutrition action officer (NAO) shall assume these responsibilities.

SEC. 9. Other Forms of Assistance. — In assisting in the delivery of

nutrition and related services, the BNS shall perform the following functions:


20

21

a. Organize the mothers to form a class;

b. Conduct community nutrition education;

c Visit homes to provide nutrition counselling services especially on

exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding;

d. Manage community-based feeding programs;

Ch Distribute seeds, seedlings and small animals from the local

agriculture office and other government organizations to promote home or

community food gardens; and

f. Inform the community of scheduled immunization and other health

activities in coordination with the local midwife, agriculture officer, social

welfare officer, and other government workers.

SEC. 10. Continuing Education and Training. — The National Nutrition
Council shall provide continuing education through trainings, conduct regular
evaluation of the system, and provide technical assistance to the BNS federation to
ensure their functionality.

To reinforce skills during the formal training, the BNS shall attend monthly
trainings conducted by the DNPC, the CNPC, or the NAO. Regular visits and
monitoring may also be conducted by the DNPC, the CNPC, or the NAO to ensure
continuous learning.

SEC. 11. Incentives and Benefits. The BNS shall enjoy the following

incentives and benefits:


21

a. A civil service eligibility equivalent to second grade after the
completion of at least two (2) years of continuous and satisfactory service in
the barangay. The BNS may avail of this second grade civil service
eligibility by filing the proper application with the regional office of the Civil
Service Commission;
b. A monthly cash allowance of at least Two thousand pesos (P2,000.00),
annual allowance for uniform or clothing in the amount of Two thousand
pesos (P2,000.00), annual allowance for training stipend, kit, and travel of at
least One thousand pesos (P 1,000.00);
C. Similar benefits accorded to regular government employees such as
PhilHealth, Pag-ibig and benefits under the indigent program of the local
government unit;
4. A monthly hazard pay of at least Five hundred pesos (P500.00); and
e An opportunity to avail of a scholarship grant in any institution
offering a two-year course formulated by the National Nutrition Council in
coordination with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

A BNS aged fifty (50) years old and above, has the option to assign
the scholarship grant to any offspring.

SEC. 12. Security of Tenure. — After undergoing the basic training program

provided in Section 8 of this Act, the BNS shall serve for at least three (3) years. A

8


yearly evaluation must be conducted and a satisfactory rating for two (2)
consecutive years is necessary before a BNS may be given a permanent position.

The BNS must be a member of the BNS federation that is duly registered
with the government and thereby accredited by the National Nutrition Council.

SEC. 13.Conduct.— While in the service, a BNS must at all times maintain
good moral conduct, be free from political activities, and must not be involved in
any criminal or administrative case. The BNS has the right to organize but shall
maintain political neutrality at all times. Any violation under this section may be a
ground for dismissal.

SEC. 14.Working Hours.— The BNS shall render at least eight (8) hours of
work a day from Mondays to Fridays, and remain on-call during Saturdays and
Sundays.

SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. —Within one hundred
eighty (180) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Health shall, in
cooperation with the National Nutrition Council and the national federation of
barangay Nutrition Scholars, formulate the necessary rules and regulations for the
effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 16.  Appropriation— The amount necessary for the initial
implementation of this Act shall be charged to the current year’s appropriation of

the Department of Health. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the


11

effective implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriation Act.

SEC. 17.Separability Clause. — \f any provision of this Act is declared
invalid, the remainder of the provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force
and effect.

SEC. 18. Repealing Clause All laws, decrees, executive orders, and other
presidential issuances which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed,
amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 19. Effectivity— This Act shall take effect fifteen days (15) after its
publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,

10