SENATOR Alan Peter Cayetano has reiterated his call to address the issue of stunting among Filipino children, emphasizing the importance of early intervention to prevent more serious health problems in the future.

“Kung stunted ang bata, you can have all the scholarships, interventions for welfare, and jobs, pero dahil apektado na, susceptible na sila sa mga sakit,” the senator said.

According to Cayetano, addressing stunting early is crucial because ignoring it now will only lead to bigger challenges for the government later.

“The more malnourished the children are now, sila ang may sakit sa future so sila ang mangangailangan ng MAIFIP or Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients, AICS or Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, PhilHealth, etc.,” he said.

“Marami sa stunted na bata ang magiging future PWDs. The more that we take care of the stunting now, the less we have to spend on the interventions later on,” he added.

Cayetano also asked the DSWD about its programs to combat stunting, citing a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies that found the department’s P5.2 billion feeding program budget had minimal impact on children’s health.

“May finding ang PIDS na hindi significant ang impact dahil it’s only one fortified meal for no less than one hundred twenty days a year, at mababa rin ang cost na fifteen pesos,” the senator said.

He challenged the DSWD to conduct in-depth studies in areas with high stunting rates and urged the government to implement stronger policies and laws to address the issue.

“If there are certain areas that you can have a dry run or a pilot testing and then it works, then none of us can debate with it,” he said.

“Challenge all of us sa Congress to come up with better laws and policies to prevent stunting,” he added.