There's such a thing as a free lunch

Here's good news for parents of children enrolled in public schools.

      

Before Congress is a proposed bill that would allot P80 billion for a free lunch program for all children enrolled in public kindergarten, elementary and high schools.

      

The proposed National Free Lunch Program Act seeks “to boost the attendance, nutrition, health and academic performance of children in the public schools.”

      

Under House Bill 6097, the free lunch shall commence upon the official opening of classes, and shall be served five days a week throughout the entire school year.

      

The free lunch program shall be administered by a Child Nutrition Network composed of representatives from the departments of Education, Social Welfare and Development, Health, and Agriculture as well as the National Nutrition Council and Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

      

The proposed measure is timely and appropriate as an estimated  three million Filipino families experienced involuntary moderate to severe hunger in the first quarter of this year, according to a Social Weather Stations survey.

      

Some 4.6 million families are classified as indigent under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.

      

Almost 600,000 children in public schools—mostly in kindergarten and elementary—are severely wasted, according to a government study.

      

Another study showed that 32 out of every 100 public school children aged five to 10 years old are underweight, while 34 out of every 100 are abnormally short for their age.

      

It is true that no child can learn on an empty stomach. The stark reality is that many children go to school every day without eating a decent meal. Even a cursory look at our public school children would show that many appear emaciated and underfed.

      

The free lunch program should be approved forthwith as it in an investment in the Filipino youth that would demonstrate government's commitment to inclusive economic development.

      

We urge private corporations and individuals to fully support this endeavor. The incentive: if they contribute to the free lunch under the Adopt-a-School Program,  they can deduct from their gross taxable income up to 150 percent of their donation.-End-

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