The Department of Education (DepEd) is looking into delegating to local government units (LGUs) the implementation of its School-Based Feeding Program.

In an interview, Maria Corazon Dumlao, DepEd School Health Division chief, said that plan is still being discussed since the department must also consider the resources available among the local governments.

In 2018,  the program was institutionalized through a law on which beneficiaries receive hot meals based on their body mass index. Hence, based on the National Nutrition Council recommendations,  nutritious food products should be served instead of hot meals. These include “enhanced” Nutribun (e-Nutribun) developed by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food Nutrition and Research Institute and other ready-to-eat meals like champorado and milk.

Two years into the pandemic, funding for the feeding program saw a significant reduction from P6 billion in 2021 to half that amount, or P3.3 billion this year.

Dumlao said the budget cut also reduced the number of feeding days from the prescribed 120 days to only 30 consecutive school days.

The program also keeps them in school because they are more inclined to attend classes in exchange for free food.

Under its current budget of P3.3 billion, DepEd feeds up to 3.5 million learners nationwide, with an estimated cost per meal of P18 for each student.

By next year, students will get a meal worth P20 each under the proposed P5.6-billion budget for the department.

DepEd data showed that of the 2021-2022 contract value for the nutritious food packs, “adopters” (accredited bakers) of e-Nutribun received P1.14 billion while small and medium-sized enterprises got P1.15 billion.