House OKs on 2nd reading bill expanding school feeding program

MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to expand the country’s school-based feeding program (SBFP), by covering all learners in public schools from Kindergarten to Grade 3, and undernourished pupils from Grade 4 to 12, has been approved on second reading by the House of Representatives.

During the session on Tuesday, House Bill No. 9466, which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11037 or the “Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act,” was approved through viva voce or voice voting.

READ: DepEd told: Consider logistics, other factors in school feeding program

If enacted, the bill — authored by several lawmakers, including House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III — will not only increase the scope of learners who would benefit from the program, but also push the number of feeding days from 120 days to 200 days in a year.

Coverage also includes nutritionally-at-risk pregnant learners, children with disabilities, indigenous learners, and other vulnerable sectors.

“At the heart of this measure is a simple but urgent reality: hunger and undernutrition remain among the gravest barriers to learning, development, and productivity among Filipino children,” House committee on education chairperson and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said in his sponsorship speech.

“For many of our learners, especially those in vulnerable communities, the classroom is difficult to navigate on an empty stomach. A child who is hungry cannot concentrate. A child who is undernourished struggles to grow, to learn, and to thrive,” he added.

According to Romulo, the measure would ensure that nutrition would not be a “one-time intervention” but a “continuing, integrated, and multi-sectoral responsibility.”

“That is why this bill expands the current feeding program into a broader nutrition-centered framework that addresses not only caloric intake, but also micronutrient deficiencies, food quality, child development, maternal nutrition, sanitation, health education, and local food sustainability,” he added.

Romulo’s committee held extensive discussions on the proposal.  Last December 2025, during a hearing of the committee on education, several lawmakers, including Romulo, reminded the Department of Education (DepEd) that logistics and absorptive capacity are also key issues in expanding the government’s SBFP.

The reminder came after Romulo and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio asked DepEd how it intends to implement — and whether it can even implement — a wider SBFP.

In response, Director IV Dr. Miguel Angelo Mantaring of DepEd’s Bureau of Learner Support Services said that they support the vision of an expanded SBFP, including a possible coverage of all students in public schools.

According to the DepEd official, one of the issues faced by the SBFP is the adoption of cash-based budgeting, which “requires obligations and disbursements to follow fiscal year timelines.”

But Romulo told DepEd that issues are not concentrated on questions of whether there are funds for programs, especially since feeding all students, from K to 12, in public schools would mean addressing the nutritional needs of 26 million students.

“So that would be about 26 million students , and you are saying that aside from the fact that your only difficulty would have been that the budget is eligible from January to December , but you are allowed a two-year validity to spend it , so that’s why it works out.  Other than that there’s no problem?” Romulo asked.

“What about a school with 10,000 students with a double shift? How do you manage that?  They might not be able to do anything else except do feeding programs, but you’re telling us that you can do that and you will not sacrifice quality education?” he added.

When Mantaring said that DepEd’s budget for the SBFP was increased to P28.6 billion, Romulo asked if the department has the absorptive capacity to implement the project, which Mantaring admitted that, currently, DepEd cannot.

Instead of forcing the implementation of an expanded SBFP, Romulo said DepEd can heed Tinio’s suggestion of having a “targeted increase” until the agency is “able to build” capacity.

Aside from a targeted increase in the implementation of the SBFP, Biñan City Rep. Arman Dimaguila said DepEd can delegate the rollout of feeding programs to local government units (LGUs).

According to Dimaguila, LGUs have the expertise and personnel to successfully implement the national feeding program targeted towards public school learners from daycare centers and kindergarten to Grade 12.  /jpv