City to pursue implementation of supplementary feeding program

TO ADDRESS the malnutrition problem and to help achieve the goal to eradicate poverty and hunger, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in partnership with the Local Government Units (LGUs) will implement the 8th Cycle Supplementary Feeding Program in the city.

This, after the 18th City Council during its regular session presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy enacted an ordinance authorizing the city mayor to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DSWD Region 10 for the purpose.

The supplementary feeding program is the provision of food in addition to the regular meals to target children as part of the DSWD’s contribution to the early childhood care and development (ECCD) program of the government, The Power learned.

Under the MOA, DSWD-10 shall manage and coordinate/supervise the regional implementation of the Supplementary Feeding Program. It shall also designate a focal person for the program to provide guidance and technical assistance to the Social Welfare and Development officers, among others.

DSWD-10 shall, likewise, consolidate LGU and NGO report and submit monthly physical accomplishment and financial report on the utilization of funds and quarterly accomplishment on the nutritional status of children to the central office of the Protective Services Bureau and conduct a regional implementation review at the end of the implementation period.

For its part, the city shall submit a project proposal and a master list of beneficiaries as the basis for funding allocation. It shall also supervise the implementation of the feeding program in Day Care Centers.

The city shall also conduct profiling and update the database of children beneficiaries of the program, among others.

The legislation was reviewed and endorsed by the committees on social services and on laws and rules respectively chaired by Councilors Reuben R. Daba and Ian Mark Q. Nacaya. (JBD)