Daily Tribune
IN PHOTOS | Education Secretary Sonny Angara spearheaded a landmark agreement between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the local government of Bayugan City to enhance the delivery of the School-Based Feeding Program aimed at combating malnutrition among learners. This collaborative model will serve as a national blueprint for DepEd's expanded feeding initiative, which seeks to improve learner health and academic performance through daily hot meals.
DepEd Philippines
The Department of Education (DepEd) has begun shifting more responsibility for its School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) to local governments, signing what officials described as a model agreement with Bayugan City that could be replicated nationwide as the agency rolls out a record P25.6-billion nutrition program.
Under the arrangement, Bayugan City will oversee the delivery of nutritious hot meals for at least 120 feeding days to 4,470 learners, including all kindergarten and Grade 1 pupils as well as undernourished students in Grades 2 to 6.
“Through LGU-led implementation, we are maximizing the capacity of local governments to reach children who need assistance more quickly,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said.
Bayugan's latest nutritional assessment showed 997 undernourished learners during School Year 2024-2025, including 189 classified as severely wasted and 808 as wasted.
The agreement comes as DepEd expands the scope of the feeding program under Republic Act No. 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act, which institutionalized school feeding and nutrition interventions in public schools.
Angara recently issued updated guidelines governing the program, including a policy requiring a gradual shift toward freshly prepared hot meals for beneficiaries. The department aims to achieve full hot-meal coverage nationwide by 2030.
For fiscal year 2026, DepEd has adopted a universal feeding approach covering all incoming kindergarten and Grade 1 learners, alongside undernourished pupils up to Grade 6.
The department said the Bayugan agreement serves as a pilot model for future partnerships with local governments as it seeks to accelerate the implementation of the expanded feeding program across the country.
Education officials argue that improving student nutrition is critical to addressing broader learning challenges, citing data showing that feeding interventions help reduce severe malnutrition while improving school attendance, classroom participation and learner retention.
By decentralizing implementation to local governments, DepEd hopes to sustain nutrition support beyond short-term feeding activities and integrate it into long-term efforts to improve student health and learning outcomes.###
