SENATOR Grace Poe called on her colleagues to retain the funding for the government’s feeding program for undernourished children in public daycare centers, kindergarten, and elementary school.

The senator also praised officials of the Department of Education for increasing the allocation for the implementation of the National Feeding Program.

At the same time, Poe called for a review of the program to expand its coverage and increase the number of its beneficiaries.

“It’s really important that our children go to school nourished. It doesn’t have to be expensive,” said Poe, who pushed for the enactment of the law.

“This is also crucial to the development of the country, that the children are fed well, educated well, and are cared for well,” she pointed out.

Under Republic Act 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, the government shall provide a supplemental feeding program for daycare children, a school-based feeding program for public school children from kinder to Grade 6, a milk-feeding program, a micronutrient feeding program, health examinations, vaccinations, and deworming, among others.

The law also includes the creation of a National Nutrition Information System which will harmonize all existing national and local nutrition databases to identify individuals, groups, and/or localities that have the highest magnitude of hunger and undernutrition.