P17-billion earmarked to fight child hunger

The House of Representatives has allocated up to P17 billion this year to fund vital schooland community-based feeding programs aimed at combating child hunger and boosting school attendance.

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Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo, a member of the House committee on appropriations, announced yesterday that of the total funding, P11.8 billion is earmarked for the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) under the Department of Education (DepEd), while P5.2 billion will support the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

"These feeding programs are a lifeline for children who go to bed hungry. Access to nutritious meals can mean the difference between staying in school or dropping out for many of these children," Rillo said.

The announcement comes amid troubling findings from a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from March 15 to 20, which showed that 27.2 percent of Filipino families—equivalent to roughly 7.5 million households—experienced involuntary hunger, or having nothing to eat at least once in the past three months.