Senator Alan Peter Cayetano urgently called for the creation of an Anti-Stunting Action Plan (ASAP) during the Senate deliberations on the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Cayetano, a Commissioner of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), cited findings from the Commission’s Year One Report pointing to the need to cover nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
“Basically, pagdating na nila ng Grade 1, medyo malala na ‘yung problema. Although there’s need for better coordination between [government agencies] with regards to feeding, mas malaki po kasi ang problema from 0-2 years old,” the veteran legislator noted.
“Children aged 6-11 months, 12.8% yung prevalence ng stunting. Pero pagdating ng 1-2 years old, it’s 30.2% – so halos dumodoble,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“The point I’m making is…can we address stunting?…Irreversible ito eh…Ang problema mo sa stunting, walang rewind ‘to eh,” the senator stressed.
Anti-stunting body pushed
Cayetano advocated for the creation of the ASAP to address the issue of stunting among Filipino children.
“May organization ba, may presidential commission, mayroon po bang inter-agency body [dedicated to] anti-stunting?”, he asked.
Senator Pia Cayetano answered in the negative.
“There has to be an anti-stunting action plan.”
“There has to be an anti-stunting action plan. And we need a chairperson there. Whether it’s a cabinet cluster, whether it’s a Commission, etc…”, Cayetano emphasized.
He also advocated for the appointment of an “anti-stunting czar”, recommending the DSWD Secretary for the role.
The DSWD, through the budget’s sponsor Sen. Pia Cayetano, explained that one of the current interventions to address stunting is the increased allocation for supplemental feeding – from P17 to P25 per meal. Sen. Pia also explained that the original proposed budget provided was 120 days, but the Senate version provided for an additional 60 days, reaching 80 days.
However, a 2024 study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) reveals that current SFP implementation fails to achieve meaningful nutritional impact. According to the study, no significant differences exist in the proportion of children aged 3-4 meeting total energy and protein intake requirements between program participants and non-participants.
In consultations, the DSWD acknowledges that this ineffectiveness persists due to an insufficient cost per hot meal. The increase to the allocation for hot meals – P15.00 since 2011 to P25.00 in 2025 – remains insufficient, given sustained food price inflation as shared in subsequent meetings and hearings with EDCOM II.
EDCOM 2 also advocates for an amendment to Republic Act No. 11037, or the “Masustansyang Pagkain Para Sa Batang Pilipino Act”. The proposed amendments will expand coverage to 2-3 year-old children. It is also targeted to increase the number of children receiving the SFP that meet the recommended energy intake (REI) in early learning programs.
Cayetano also cited the Pareto Principle in strategic and targeted investment for nutrition interventions.
“20% effort for 80% result.”
“20% effort for 80% result…What is very clear to me now, is not only the first 1,000 days, but also the 11th month to the 2nd year…If I have to make a choice, ilan ang magco-college vs. ilan ang ‘wag naman mabansot, pipiliin ko doon, ‘di ba? I hope we can take a holistic look at it then: how much do we have, and can we increase it?” he said.
EDCOM 2 notes that addressing nutrition challenges in the early years calls for the government to ramp up investments in terms of both quantity and quality: expanding the length of coverage of the SFP, as well as increasing the quality of hot meals supplied to beneficiaries.
