Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
19th CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ____ 
________________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
________________________________________________________________________________ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
11.8 % of Filipino families, or an estimated three million, experienced "involuntary" 
hunger from October to December 2021, according to a survey by Social Weather Stations 
(SWS) in December 2021.1 Meanwhile, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the 
Department of Science and Technology reported in the same year that 1,717 metric tons of food 
are lost or wasted daily in the Philippines. Similarly, the International Rice Research Institute 
reported that daily rice waste totals P23 million, enough to feed 4.3 million people.2 
These families suffering from hunger while daily food waste amounts to a painful irony 
that the government must address. This bill, if passed into law, will promote and enable the 
donation and recycling of excess food to reduce food waste. The measure mandates a National 
Zero-Food Waste Campaign to raise awareness on the impact of food surplus and strategies to 
reduce wasted food at food-related businesses and the household level; establishes the linkages 
between food businesses, food banks, and local government units to create a community-based 
food distribution system for the food insecure; and establishes guidelines and standards for the 
collection, storage, and distribution of surplus food. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
1
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170725#:~:text=12%20to%2016%2C%202021%20survey,due%20to%20lack%20
of%20food. 
2 https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1505252/the-malady-of-food-waste-millions-starve-as-trash-bins-fill-with-leftovers 
August 8, 2022
2:40 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
19th CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ____ 
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT REDUCING WASTAGE BY DONATING AND 
RECYCLING EXCESS EDIBLE FOOD 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:  
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Food Surplus Reduction Act". 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes that each person has a right to an adequate 
standard of living, including sufficient, safe, quality and nutritious food. It is hereby declared a 
policy of the State to attain food security, end hunger, and promote the efficient use of the country's 
food resources. The considerable number of people going hungry daily is a breach of a human 
right that this Act intends to address and correct and the massive amount of food surplus presents 
an opportunity for the State to address hunger and its efforts on quality of life of the 
underprivileged. 
Toward this end, the State shall adopt a system to promote, facilitate and ensure the reduction of 
food surplus through redistribution and recycling. The State shall likewise implement measures to 
make it mandatory to donate edible food surplus for charitable purposes.  
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms - As used in this Act: 
a) Edible food surplus refers to excess food or surplus food in the retail and consumption
stages, determined to be fit for human consumption based on the applicable standards of
food quality and safety;
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b) Food banks refer to non-profit, charitable or other social mission-oriented organizations 
that collect donations of edible food items and distribute them to the food insecure; 
c) Food insecure refers to persons or groups of persons who have no means and/or have 
difficulty producing or purchasing food;  
 
d) Food surplus reduction refers to the decrease of food surplus through the redistribution 
of food surplus to the food insecure or the recycling of food as fertilizer or compost;  
  
e) Food-related business refers to public and private businesses involved in the 
manufacturing and processing of food products, private businesses involved in the 
wholesaling and retailing of food products, private businesses involved in serving food 
products, and private institutions offering courses in the art and science of preparation, 
cooking and presentation of food; and  
  
f) Inedible food surplus refers to food discarded in the retail and consumption stages, 
determined to be unfit for human consumption, including, prepackaged food products that 
have gone beyond their declared expiry dates.  
 
SEC. 4. Covered Establishments. – The establishments covered by this Act are as follows:  
 
a) Food manufacturers, notwithstanding any restriction imposed by any existing law and 
regulation on food manufacturers: Provided, That any donation made by such 
manufacturers under the provisions of this Act shall constitute an exception to the 
applicability of restrictions under existing laws and regulations as long as the product to be 
donated has no safety and quality issue, no untruthful information or health claims or any 
information that can mislead the consumers;  
  
b) Food establishments (restaurants, cafes, diners, fast food chains or hotels);  
c) Supermarkets with at least five hundred (500) square meters of selling space; and  
d) Culinary schools which offer culinary, baking and pastry courses with at least fifty 
(50) students.  
SEC. 5. Determination of Food Insecure. - The criteria for the determination of a food insecure 
person or group, will be made by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 
in coordination with local government units (LGUs).  
 
SEC. 6. National Zero-Food Waste Campaign. - The National Nutrition Council (NNC), in close 
coordination with the DSWD, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department 


of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Education (DepEd), Department 
of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Science and 
Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), other concerned agencies and LGUs, shall 
undertake a National Zero-Food Waste Campaign to raise awareness on the impact of a food 
surplus and strategies to decrease wasted food starting at the household level. The campaign shall 
also promote the food surplus reduction hierarchy and recommend means of reducing individual 
food waste.   
 
To educate the younger generation, the DepEd shall have the duty to ensure that the prescribed 
curriculum includes informative materials on the following: 
 
a) Current global and national food waste situation; 
b) Ways to minimize food surplus;  
c) National and local food surplus prevention programs;  
d) Food recovery; and  
e) Pertinent provisions of this Act.  
SEC. 7. Edible Food Surplus Distribution Steps - The following steps shall be followed in edible 
food surplus distribution: 
a) The owners of the covered establishments will segregate their edible and inedible food 
surplus;  
  
b) To facilitate distribution, food manufacturers may opt to perform the segregation of their 
products at the supermarkets that sell their products, bearing in mind the exclusion of all 
physically damaged food container such as tainted or tarnished label which may render it 
unreadable, dented, smashed, rusted, swollen, corroded food container or any similar 
condition which may render the food unsafe. For consumer protection and consistency with 
the existing policy, any processed food for donation shall have at least 12 months remaining 
shelf-life;  
 
c) Before a donation is made, a duly trained sanitary inspector of the LGU will check if 
the edible food surplus is fit for human consumption;  
 
d) Upon determination that the edible food surplus conforms to the standard and policy, it 
will be donated to accredited food banks, as determined by the DSWD; and   
e) Food banks, in coordination with the DSWD and LGUs will distribute the edible food 
surplus to the food insecure.  
 


SEC. 8. Food-related Business Surplus Reduction Strategy. - The owners of food-related 
businesses such as food manufacturers, supermarkets, restaurants, cafeterias, culinary schools and 
hotels shall:  
 
a. Submit their respective reports to the DSWD and DENR containing data on the amount 
(in tons) of its edible and inedible food surplus, organized according to the manner of 
disposal, including donation, composting, or discarding;  
 
b. Enter into a contract with food banks to redistribute edible food surplus to the food 
insecure;  
 
c. Ensure that edible food surplus is unadulterated and in good condition upon arrival at 
the food bank's distribution center; and  
d. Enter into a contract with waste management and recycling enterprises to recycle 
inedible food surplus.  
SEC. 9. National Food Surplus Scheme. – The DSWD, as the coordinating agency between food 
businesses and food banks, shall:  
a. Provide guidelines and standards for the collection, storage, and distribution of edible 
food donated to food banks;  
 
b. Ensure that food businesses have entered into contracts with food banks and issue 
acceptance certificates to food businesses;  
  
c. Ensure that food banks have adequate and appropriate storage for the edible food 
surplus especially the highly perishable food;  
 
d. Promote linkages between food banks and LGUs to create a community-based food 
distribution system for the food insecure; and  
 
e. Create a Self-Sufficiency Program that will provide the food insecure with skills 
training in managing food banks and livelihood programs to avoid the dependence on 
donation solely.  
 
SEC. 10. Responsibility of LGUs in Waste Reduction Strategy. - LGUs are hereby required to:  
 


a. Submit a report that contains data on the amount (in tons) of inedible food surplus that 
can be recycled as raw materials for fertilizers or compost, livestock feed or sources of 
biofuel to the DA and DENR;  
b. Initiate a waste segregation effort per household, ensuring inedible food surplus are not 
mixed with garbage otherwise garbage found with food waste will not be collected; 
c. Shoulder the cost of transporting inedible food surplus from collection areas to waste 
management sites;  
 
d. Enter into contract with waste management and recycling enterprises to recycle inedible 
food waste into fertilizer or compost, livestock feed or sources of biofuel; and  
 
e. Facilitate the distribution of fertilizer or compost to farms and community gardening 
associations.  
 
SEC. 11. Training of Sanitary Inspectors. - The NNC shall, in coordination with the University of 
the Philippines College of Public Health and LGUs, conduct regular trainings on the proper 
handling, collection, distribution and determination of edible and inedible food surplus which 
includes microbiology, parasitology of food contaminant and the standards for the classification 
of food quality. 
  
SEC. 12. Liability Protection. - To protect the food donors from possible abuses, and encourage 
donations, the liability of owners of the food-related businesses is limited only to the time that they 
have possession of the food surplus.  
 
Once a donation is received by the accredited food banks and/or farms, the owners shall be 
exempt from any liability or injury arising therefrom.  
SEC. 13. Prohibition of Selling Edible and Inedible Food Surplus. The reselling of donated edible 
and inedible food surplus is strictly prohibited. The penalty of prision mayor shall be imposed 
upon anyone caught reselling donated food surplus. If the offender is a juridical entity, the 
responsible officers will be held liable for said violation. 
SEC. 14. Supervision. - The NNC, in coordination with the DSWD, shall supervise the 
enforcement and implementation of this Act.  
 
SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of 
this Act, the NNC, in coordination with DSWD, DILG, DENR, DOST, DepEd and DOH, shall 
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.  


SEC. 16. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid, or unconstitutional, 
the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.  
SEC. 17. Repealing Clause. - All other laws, presidential decrees or issuances, executive orders, 
letters of instruction, administrative orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, 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,