Former senator and senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan’s push for a “Libreng Almusal” program for kinder to senior high school students in public schools is anchored on data that shows feeding programs slowed down the dropout rate and improved the learning capacities of students.
In a speech during the flag ceremony at Lingayen Municipal Hall in Lingayen, Pangasinan on Monday, March 14, the former senator underscored the need for the school feeding program because it creates a conducive learning environment for students.
“Kapag nagawa po natin ito, maliwanag ang datos. Kapag ang paaralan na pinag-aralan nila merong school meals program, mas mababa nang halos 30 porsyento ang dropout, mas mataas nang double digit ‘yung learning, yung kakayahan sa Math and Science dahil ‘yung pagkain ay nagbibigay ng dagdag na environment conducive to learning,” he said.
A “key” component to the execution of his proposed program is the decentralization of its implementation.
“Ang partner ang LGU dahil hindi pwe-pwede (na) centralized ito. Kailangan localized ang implementation para talaga maging epektibo,” he stressed.
Pangilinan earlier explained that while there are existing feeding programs by the government, these are mostly centralized—with supplies coming from Metro Manila—that leads to food wastage.
To align his proposed free breakfast program with his landmark Sagip Saka Act, which allows the national and local governments to purchase directly from farmers and fishermen, the former senator will also include a provision requiring local governments to tap the community’s agricultural workers.
“Kalahati nung ihahain na almusal ay bibilhin sa mga lokal na magsasaka at mangingisda para sariwa, para maayos, para masustansya,” he said.
He added that this would also empower farmers and fisherfolk as access to the government as a market will increase their revenues and encourage them to grow more of their crops.
In 2024, a study by the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis of the impact of school-feeding program on pupils’ reading performance in San Gabriel Elementary School in Borongan City found that school feeding program has “an outstanding impact on both nutritional support and reading performance, with a significant correlation between program management and pupils’ reading improvement.”
A separate study by the State of School-Feeding Worldwide Report quoted by the World Food Program (WFP) said that feeding programs in school attract children to stay in school and enables them to learn better and help maintain good health.
“Research has shown that school meals programmes can increase enrolment rates by 9% and attendance by 8%,” the WFP said, adding that school-feeding programs linked to local smallholder farmers also benefit local economies and support the establishment of more sustainable food systems.
Running under the platform of food security and lower prices of food, Pangilinan expressed his willingness to work across the political spectrum because hunger and poverty know no political colors.
“Ang gutom, walang kulay. Ang solusyon, walang kulay. Ang pagkain, hindi dapat maging pribilehiyo, kundi isang karapatan. Prayoridad nating pababain ang presyo ng mga pagkain at handa tayong makipagtulungan kahit kanino.“