Senate adds P1 B to DSWD budget for day care meals

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Senate adds P1 B to DSWD budget for day care meals
P20/day is allocated to feed young children in schools and day care centers

MANILA, Philippines – Over P1 billion was added by the Senate to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)’s 2017 budget, to help fund a project that would entitle one hot meal daily to over 1.74 million 2 to 4 -year-olds next year.

In a statement released on Sunday, December 18, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said the hike, which now raises the budget for the program to P4.427 billion, was the result of a “united stand” by several senators.

It was Recto who introduced the amendment to the budget. Senator Grace Poe, a member of the majority, was credited for interpolating the amendment while Senator Loren Legarda, another majority member, “was receptive to the proposals made,” noted Recto.

Prior to the amendment, only around P13 was allocated for meals that would be served inside schools and daycares. The amount is now at P20. (READ: Restore cut in feeding programs’ budget, keep eye on implementation – Recto)

Recto said the hike was “a speck compared to the estimated P328 billion annual economic losses caused by childhood malnutrition.”

The senator also proposed a separate amendment that would have augmented the Education department’s “school feeding” program. The department said “fund absorption” might result in unused funds.

As it is, the government had two tracks for its feeding program. The Social Welfare department is in charge of “severely wasted and underweight” in daycares or neighborhood play groups between the ages of 2 and 4. The Education department, meanwhile, is in charged of children aged 5 to eleven who are enrolled in Kindergarten to Grace 6.

Recto, citing official audit and fund utilization reports, said that in 2015, the Department of Education delayed in the release of P1.4 billion from the P2.4 billion school feeding funds. The funds were only transferred to regional officials in November 13, leaving the programs 120-day feeding schedule moot. – Rappler.com

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