BASILAN – The Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) on Wednesday, August 4, turned over 13,607 kilograms of food commodities to school districts in Basilan province for the implementation of the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) for school year 2021-2022.
MBHTE was supposed to distribute hot meals through a feeding program, but the on-going pandemic hinders them to do so. Instead, food commodities will be distributed to 10,000 elementary students in the province upon their enrollment.
The 13,607 kilos of food items were composed of 11,107 kilos of anchovy and 2, 500 kilos of mung beans. Another set of 62,100 kilos of iron fortified rice is also set to be delivered in the province in the following weeks.
According to Surayfa T. Saddalan, nutritionist dietitian of MBHTE’s Health and Nutrition Unit, SBFP is in pursuant to R.A. No. 11037 or the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act.”
“The law stipulated serving fortified meals to address the prevalence of malnutrition to school children, thus the Ministry allocated funds, duly approved by the Bangsamoro Parliament, to support the program covering 160,000 learners across the BARMM region,” said Saddalan.
Teacher-in-Charge Rasid Khan D. Julkitli of Sibago Elementary School in the far-flung Sibago Island said their distance will not be a problem in ensuring that the ration will reach every learner in the school.
“Maraming salamat sa BARMM government para sa feeding program na ito. Makakaasa po kayo na ang mga tulong mula sa inyong pamahalaan ay makakarating sa bawat mag-aaral ng aming mababang paaralan, at hindi hadlang ang layo ng aming lugar upang hindi maiparating ang inyong tulong sa amin,” Julkitli said. (Bangsamoro Information Office)
