SENATE President Sherwin Gatchalian has urged the National Nutrition Council (NNC) to adopt more realistic performance indicators, saying the agency’s reported high compliance rates do not reflect the country’s worsening child stunting problem.

During the Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the NNC’s proposed 2027 budget, Gatchalian cited data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), which showed that 96.16% of local government units (LGUs) achieved the required score under the Seal of Quality Nutrition Program, even as around 2 million Filipino children remain malnourished.

Gatchalian said government agencies should measure success based on actual reductions in stunting rather than documentary compliance. He stressed that children who remain stunted before entering school already face disadvantages in learning and development that may be difficult to reverse.

The concern comes amid findings from the 2025 DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) survey, which recorded the stunting rate among children under five at 25.3%, up from 23.6% in 2023—the first nationwide increase in more than a decade.

NNC Executive Director Undersecretary Albert Domingo acknowledged the criticism, admitting that the current indicator primarily measures program inputs and documentation rather than actual outcomes in communities.

Domingo agreed that reducing stunting should become the agency’s principal measure of success.

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee also raised concerns over a major discrepancy between data systems, noting that the NNC’s Operation Timbang Plus estimated the 2025 stunting rate at about 5%, far below the FNRI’s scientifically sampled national estimate of 25.3%.

He said the government must explain the gap to ensure accurate planning, targeting, and accountability.

EDCOM 2 maintained that improving early childhood nutrition remains essential to reducing learning poverty, warning that performance metrics should reflect the actual condition of Filipino children rather than paper-based accomplishments.