COTABATO CITY—Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim was once again framed elbow-to-elbow with the country’s chief executive as he joined President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in Manila during the launching of Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) yesterday, March 29.
In his speech before the audiences, Ebrahim thanked the President including the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for their continued support in eradicating undernutrition issues in the Bangsamoro region.
“This skillfully designed project fosters collaboration between diverse community sectors, including the local government units, the health sector, and stakeholders who have a shared interest in providing nutrition services to our citizens,” the Chief Minister said.
Ebrahim emphasized that the successful project requires synergies among various stakeholders in the community saying that “addressing undernutrition in the country is not the responsibility of a single office or agency.”
“The success of this project depends on the joint efforts of the national office and the local government units, which will certainly capacitate and mobilize our LGUs to maximize the programmed mechanisms for enhancing services in water, sanitation, and hygiene,” he added.
In yesterday’s event, Ebrahim said that 40 towns in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have been listed to join the PMNP sites. As of this writing, list is yet to be provided by the region’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
In a published statement at the Office of the President’s official Facebook excerpted from PBBM’s speech during the event, the country’s chief executive recognized the 110-million Filipinos as key to the country’s sustainable economic growth and stressed the importance of improving their well-being.
The PMNP is a crucial aspect of this effort, as it focuses on meeting the nutritional needs of the people, resulting in improved health and a more informed and capable population.
“If our collective ambition as a nation is to push for a fast-paced yet long-term economic development, especially in this post-pandemic era, we must be able to lay that development on a firm foundation,” President Marcos said.
“We will want to invest in our 110 million-strong people, who, without question, are the main drivers of our economy,” he further said.
Meanwhile, OIC Health Secretary Dr. Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire said that the project “offers a new beginning for innovations to be integrated with established strategies”
“PNMP is product of our collective efforts to shape programs built around the needs of Filipino mothers and children. From previous feeding programs and nutrient provision services, we are now expanding our approach to cover disparities in other sectors affecting nutrition,” she explained.
The PMNP, a four-year project spearheaded by DOH and the DSWD is geared towards adopting a bold and multisectoral approach to achieve nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions across various local government units.(Abdullah Matucan/BIO with reports from Office of the President, DOH)
