Senator Grace Poe on Monday appealed to all candidates in the upcoming May 2025 elections to prioritize child-related issues such as malnutrition.

Poe noted that the passage of Republic Act No. 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, which she authored, paved the way for feeding programs to combat hunger and malnutrition among children.

“We’re not starting from zero. The programs and the budget for child nutrition are in place, but we need champions for this advocacy to ensure its continuity,” said Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

“We hope we elect officials who believe that the economic future of our country hinges on our children,” she added.

RA 11037 institutionalized the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) and the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP).

Supervised by the Department of Education, the SBFP aims to address undernutrition among learners by providing hot meals or nutritional food products, including fresh milk, to wasted and severely wasted learners from Kindergarten to Grade 6.

Under the 2025 national budget, which Poe sponsored in the Senate, the SBFP was allocated P11.7 billion—P65.7 million more than the 2024 budget.

Meanwhile, the SFP, under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, served a total of 9,558,636 children in LGU-run Child Development Centers and Supervised Neighborhood Play from 2020 to 2024.

Poe said the positive results in children’s nutrition are encouraging but stressed that the programs must continue without let-up.

“We are gratified that during our years in the Senate, we were able to pass the feeding program laws and secure funding for their implementation,” Poe said.

“When it comes to our children’s nutrition, a diet policy does not work. For them to reach their full potential and be productive, we must meet their most basic need—food,” she added.