The Department of Social Welfare and Development will release P277 million for pre-schoolers in day care centers in Western Visayas.

The fund will be used to implement the Supplementary Feeding program for 185,198 children in 5,557 day care centers regionwide, a press release from the DSWD said yesterday.

The highest portion of P101 million will go to Negros Occidental; followed by Iloilo with P71.8 million; Antique, P30.6 million; Capiz, P21.9 million; Aklan, P20.3 million; Iloilo City, P14.8 million; Bacolod City, P6.9 million; Guimaras, P6.3 million; and Roxas City, P3.6 million, it said.

The funds will be released to the municipality or city, responsible for implementing the program.

The supplementary feeding program involves the provision of food, in addition to the regular meals, to currently enrolled day care center children in the form of hot meals, as recommended by Food and Nutrition Research Institute, and served to children during break time, the press release said.

Beneficiaries of the program are three-year-old and four-year-old children; and those five-year-old children not catered to by the Department of Education pre-school children but enrolled in day care, it said.

This program is implemented in response to the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office which showed that 11 percent of Filipino families had income that cannot buy the food needed by family members for nutritional well-being and health. These families can be considered as hungry and food poor, the press release said.

Last year, 171,089 children from 5,448 day care centers in Western Visayas benefited from the program with an investment of P157 million, it added.

The program also aims to improve knowledge, attitude and practices of children enrolled in day care centers, parents and caregivers through intensified nutrition and health education, it said.*

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