THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday said some 1.5 million children, aged between three and five years old, would benefit from the increased budget for its Supplemental Feeding Program (SFP) this year.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, in a briefing in Malacanang, said P5.182 billion had been allocated for the SPF, which aims to provide hot meals as well as fresh milk to children enrolled in public child development centers (CDCs), formerly daycares, to help address their nutritional needs and combat malnutrition and stunting.
Gatchalian said the fund for each meal had been raised to P25 for this year, up from P15 last year.
He said the daily meals would be provided for 120 days, which corresponds to the school calendar in CDCs.
He said the 120 days is expandable to 180 days, depending on the availability of budget and savings from local government units (LGUs) that oversee the operations of the CDCs.
Gatchalian said the meals that would be served would follow a fixed menu based on Pinggang Pinoy, the dietary guide recommended by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and validated by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FNRI).
He said the ingredients would be sourced from local producers.
The SFP is implemented yearly after it was institutionalized in 2018 by Republic Act No.11037, also known as the “Masustansiyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act.
