SENATOR Grace Poe urged the Department of Education to boost its tie-up with local dairy farmers for the steady supply of milk for its school-based feeding programs.

For School Year 2023-2024, the DepEd aims to cover around 1.6 million learners as beneficiaries.

Based on data, 87.4 percent of the milk needs of the children for the SBFP were procured from local sources in 2023, while the rest was sourced commercially.

“I hope the local sourcing will increase, if possible, to 100 percent so our farmers will not have to worry about finding a source where they can sell their milk,” Poe said.

For 2024, a budget of P11 billion has been proposed for the feeding program.

At the same time, the senator asked relevant agencies to strictly monitor the handling of milk supply to prevent spoilage.

“Pag-ingatan natin ang handling at delivery dahil madaling mapanis ang gatas,” she said during the DepEd budget deliberations.

“Milk can really fill up the stomachs of our children. If they regularly drink milk, they no longer need many supplements. We have to make sure they get only the fresh packs,” she added.

Poe is the main author of Republic Act 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino law which implements the feeding program for undernourished children from kindergarten to Grade 6.