ALYANSA Para sa Bagong Pilipinas Senatorial candidate and former Secretary Benhur Abalos called for urgent attention to child nutrition as a fundamental solution to the country’s worsening education crisis, citing alarming literacy rates and widespread child stunting.

During a Senate hearing by the Committee on Basic Education led by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, data revealed that only 70.8% of Filipinos are now functionally literate—meaning they can read, write, and perform basic math.

This leaves around 24.8 million Filipinos unable to fully perform these essential skills, with 5.86 million classified as completely illiterate.

In response to a question about how the government can address the crisis, Abalos emphasized that while many capable education secretaries have served the Department of Education, the impact of malnutrition—particularly during the early years of life—has been largely overlooked.

“We’ve had brilliant DepEd secretaries, but no one really focused on nutrition,” Abalos said.

He shared his experience as former mayor of Mandaluyong City, recalling how the city drastically improved its academic performance after implementing a nutrition program targeting pregnant women and infants during their first 1,000 days.

“In 1999, Mandaluyong was at the bottom in Metro Manila. We launched a city-wide nutrition program led by my wife, focusing on prenatal care, breastfeeding, and proper infant nutrition. We eventually became number one in nutrition nationwide,” he said.

Abalos explained that stunting, caused by chronic undernutrition during early childhood, leads to permanent brain damage and reduced cognitive ability.

“When a child is stunted, their brain development suffers. Even if you later provide them with quality education and computers, it’s too late—the brain is already damaged,” he warned.

He cited national statistics showing that 1 in 3 Filipino children were previously stunted.