Congress Allocates ₱17 Billion for School, Daycare Feeding Programs

Congress has earmarked up to ₱17 billion this year to fund school- and community-based feeding programs that aim to combat child hunger and boost school attendance, Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo announced Sunday.

Of the total allocation, ₱11.8 billion is set for the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) under the Department of Education (DepEd), while ₱5.2 billion will fund the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“These feeding programs are a lifeline for children who go to bed hungry,” Rillo said.

“Access to nutritious meals can mean the difference between staying in school or dropping out for many of these children,” he added.

The announcement follows a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from March 15 to 20, revealing that 27.2 percent of Filipino families — around 7.5 million households — experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.

“We are counting on the feeding programs not only to ease child hunger and malnutrition, but also to keep vulnerable learners in school,” Rillo said.

“These are critical investments in the health, development, and education of our nation’s children,” he added.

“They not only nourish young minds and bodies but also help lift families out of the cycle of poverty,” Rillo emphasized.

The SBFP targets incoming kindergarten to grade six pupils who are classified as wasted, severely wasted, stunted, or severely stunted based on nutritional status.

The program provides daily rations of nutritious food products throughout the school year to improve their physical and academic performance.

Meanwhile, the SFP offers fortified meals, including milk, vitamin-enriched bread like nutribun, and ready-to-eat food to undernourished children aged three to five enrolled in local government-run child development centers.

Children aged two to four attending supervised neighborhood play groups are also beneficiaries of the 120-day, five-day-a-week feeding cycle under the SFP.

In his Fourth District in Quezon City, Rillo has been actively distributing free school supplies such as uniforms, bags, and shoes to public elementary and high school students.

“By providing children with free uniforms, bags, and shoes, we are fostering classrooms where everyone feels valued and dignified,” Rillo said.

A strong advocate for greater educational access, Rillo also authored Republic Act No. 11984, which bans the “no permit, no exam” policy in all Philippine schools.

The law guarantees that students can take periodic and final examinations even if they have outstanding tuition balances or unpaid school fees.

Meanwhile, the DepEd has announced that the school year 2025–2026 will officially start on June 16, 2025, and conclude on March 31, 2026.

The announcement aims to ensure adequate preparation and support for learners as the academic calendar gradually shifts to a more climate-resilient schedule.