The Department of Education (DepEd) is set to receive a staggering ₱26 billion for its school-based feeding program in the 2026 national budget. This massive allocation, drawn from taxpayer money, has sparked intense public scrutiny about how effectively these funds are being utilized to combat child malnutrition in Philippine public schools.
Two Decades of Implementation, Lingering Questions
The DepEd feeding program, which began in the early 2000s, aims to provide nutritious meals to schoolchildren, specifically targeting stunting, malnutrition, and hunger that directly affect learning capacity. Despite operating for over two decades, fundamental questions about its management and effectiveness remain unanswered.
Critical transparency issues persist, including whether DepEd employs sufficient Nutritionist-Dietitian personnel to monitor the actual nutritional status of students, particularly from Kindergarten to Grade 6. The department has yet to clarify how many such specialists are deployed across its Schools Division Offices to properly assess malnutrition situations.
Systemic Challenges and Accountability Gaps
While DepEd has introduced monitoring tools like school-based reports and nutritional assessments, the system faces significant implementation challenges. Reports of delayed food deliveries, subpar food quality, and logistical shortcomings indicate that current mechanisms may be inadequate for a program of this scale.
More concerning is the lack of clear auditing procedures publicly available. Without transparent independent auditing and accessible longitudinal studies demonstrating the program's impact on academic performance and child health, the public must rely on anecdotal evidence rather than concrete data.
Beyond Temporary Solutions: Addressing Root Causes
The continued need for a massive feeding program after twenty years suggests deeper, unresolved issues. The program's persistence indicates that the government has not successfully addressed the root causes of malnutrition—poverty, limited access to nutritious food, and weak public health interventions.
This raises fundamental questions about whether DepEd, whose primary mandate is education, should lead nutrition-focused initiatives. Some argue that the Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development might be better positioned to implement such programs through broader social safety nets and public health reforms.
The ₱26 billion allocation represents more than just a budget line item—it symbolizes public trust in government institutions. As the program moves forward, DepEd faces the critical challenge of not only feeding children but providing clear evidence that every peso spent creates meaningful, measurable change in combating malnutrition among Filipino youth.
