Grade 1 students from the Mandaluyong Elementary School eat meals fortified with malunggay and iodized salt during the school’s daily feeding program intended for those who are found to be severely malnourished or wasted. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sonny Angara has filed a bill that would expand the coverage of the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) to address undernutrition among students in the country.
Angara proposed to amend Republic Act 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act. The new bill would also cover students from Grades 7 to 12.
“Isinasama natin ang mga estudyante ng junior at senior high school sa SBFP dahil sila din ay apektado ng kakulangan sa pagkain kung saan ang gutom ay nagiging hadlang sa kanilang pag-aaral. Nakakalungkot ang sitwasyon na ito na kadalasan ay hindi maiwasan dahil sa kahirapan,” Angara said.
(We will include students from junior and senior high school in the SBFP because they are also affected by the lack of food and their hunger affects their studies. This situation is often unavoidable due to poverty).
He asserted that hunger has been a longstanding issue, saying that “studies have consistently shown that hunger has a correlation to the ability of students to learn. This is on top of the still nagging issue of stunting among Filipino children, which is why we must constantly find ways to provide them with proper nutrition in all stages of development.”
The SBFP is an ongoing program amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where rations of food products are distributed to households.