The city government has institutionalized its feeding program for preschoolers in public daycare centers, ensuring consistent support with an initial budget of PHP22 million.

The initiative, dubbed the Food for Early Education Development (FEED) program, was formalized through an ordinance authored by Councilor Frances Grace Parcon-Torres and approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod during its regular session on Wednesday.

“One of the main reasons why we proposed this ordinance was for budget allocation so we will not only rely on a supplemental budget but every year it will have its own budget. For the school year 2024-2025, we have 10,099 development center- learners,” she said in a follow-up interview.

Parcon said they pegged the budget initially at PHP22 million because there are also donations from the private sector.

Another significant point of the ordinance is the participation of parents who will prepare the food for the learners.

The food has to comply with the cycle of menu and the standards of the supplementary feeding program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas (DSWD-6).

“We have a cycle menu. Currently, our City Health, through the Iloilo City Nutrition Center, provides technical assistance in the preparation of the menu to see to it that they comply with the standards,” she added.

FEED will complement the SFP of the DSWD-6, which will run for 120 days or five days a week.

DSWD-6 and the city government signed an agreement for the next school year’s implementation last month.

At the start of the school year, the DSWD will allocate PHP22.83 million to the city government to provide daily meals to 7,611 children aged three to five years.

In a previous interview, Iloilo City social welfare development officer Teresa Gelogo said the city government will sustain the feeding program to complete the 10 months when the target children are in the centers. (PNA)