Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman today said that 1,755,034 children in 45,389 day care centers nationwide will benefit from the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for school year 2013-2014.

In the 2013 DSWD budget, it has allocated more than P2.9 billion for the program covering all 17 regions including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Secretary Soliman explained that the SFP is the provision of food in addition to the regular meals to children enrolled in day care centers and supervised neighborhood play (home-based) for the period of 120 days. “This is also the DSWD’s contribution to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program of the government,” Secretary Soliman said.

Each child, from 3 to 4 years old, enrolled this coming school year, will be provided with hot meals amounting to P13 per child per day, five times a week.   The parents will prepare the food, while the recipes or suggested menu for the day will be provided by the Dietary Nutritionists of the DSWD.

Moreover, the DSWD will coordinate with the Rural Health Unit for the regular weighing, deworming, and other medical needs of the children.

DSWD partners with NGO

In a related development, about 161 school children from Brgy. Daculang Tubig, San Fernando, Camarines Sur will benefit from the SFP sponsored by the Philippine Goodworks Mission  Foundation in partnership with the DSWD and local government unit of San Fernando, Camarines Sur.

DSWD V Regional Director Arnel Garcia turned-over the check amounting to P163,275.00 to Mrs. Vienna Sibulo, school principal of Malaking Ilog Elementary School,           in the presence of Mayor Eugenio Lagasca of San Fernando.  The amount will cover the first three months implementation of the SFP.

The Philippine Goodworks Mission Foundation is a Manila-based non –government organization that caters to children with nutritional and health problems.  ###