The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced Tuesday it has significantly increased the budget for its 2025 Supplemental Feeding Program (SFP) to enhance the nutritional well-being of children enrolled in public child development centers (CDCs) and supervised neighborhood plays (SNPs).

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the budget increase aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen government support for children in these centers by providing them with nutritious hot meals and fresh milk.

Approximately 1.5 million learners in CDCs and SNPs are expected to benefit from the SFP’s increased budget, which now stands at P5.182 billion for School Year 2025-2026.

“The President’s instruction is to ensure that our youth enrolled in our CDCs have sufficient nutrition and food,” Gatchalian said.

Starting School Year 2025-2026, the unit cost per hot meal will rise from P15 in previous years to P25, according to the DSWD chief.

“The total budget allocated for the Supplemental Feeding Program in 2025 is P5.182 billion, and our target is to provide hot meals to 1.5 million learners in our CDCs. The unit cost per hot meal this year was increased by our President,” Gatchalian said.