04/09/2026
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๐๐๐๐ 1,000 ๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 8.7 ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
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The National Nutrition Council (NNC) welcomes the constructive guidance and legislative oversight provided by the Senate during its budget hearing. Responding to discussions on child stunting rates, performance evaluation frameworks, and program ex*****on, the NNC reaffirmed its core statutory mandate while outlining clear strategic shifts to tackle malnutrition more effectively across the countryโs estimated 8.7 million children under five years old.
Addressing concerns raised by lawmakers, DOH Undersecretary and NNC Executive Director IV Dr. Albert Francis E. Domingo clarified that under Presidential Decree No. 491, the Council functions primarily as a policy-formulating and coordinating body rather than a direct implementation agency. Directing massive, centralized feeding operations from a policy office often creates procurement and supply chain bottlenecks; instead, the agency maintains that implementation belongs on the ground. Consequently, major dietary supplementation funds, such as those requested under the Department of Health (DOH) Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB), are designed to be downloaded directly to Local Government Units (LGUs). This empowers local chief executives and community frontliners to take full ownership of nutrition programs within their jurisdictions.
To ensure these localized efforts yield real results, the NNC is overhauling its monitoring and evaluation systems. In response to Senate observations regarding LGU performance ratings, the Council is transitioning away from measuring basic process inputsโsuch as planning documents or administrative complianceโtoward tracking tangible outputs and long-term health outcomes. By utilizing multi-sectoral scorecards in coordination with partner agencies like the DBM, DILG, DepEd, and DSWD, local government performance will now be directly measured by actual reductions in child stunting, wasting, and underweight rates.
Central to this operational shift is the institutionalization of an expanded "Unang Yakap" First 1,000 Days benefit package in partnership with PhilHealth and the DOH. This comprehensive continuum of care addresses malnutrition from pre-conception, utilizing food fortification strategies like adding folate to flour to prevent birth defects, all the way through antenatal care, immediate newborn vaccination, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding up to 59 months.
To drive family engagement beyond current 4Ps beneficiaries, the NNC is exploring ways to link routine health center visits with broader incentive programs, such as food assistance initiatives. These efforts will be driven on the frontlines by the nation's network of over 42,000 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS), who conduct direct household mapping to reach every malnourished child in the most remote communities.
The NNC maintains that form must follow function, and that policy must align seamlessly with local ex*****on. By sharpening its focus on outcome-based metrics, empowering LGUs, and safeguarding the first 1,000 days of life, the Council remains fully committed to ensuring that public resources directly translate into a healthier, stunting-free future for all Filipino children.
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๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ญ:
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๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐, ๐๐๐
Undersecretary of Health and
Concurrent Executive Director IV
National Nutrition Council
c/o
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Nutrition Officer V and Chief, Nutrition Information and Education Division
8843-01-42 | [email protected]. ph
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The National Nutrition Council is the highest policymaking and coordinating body on nutrition mandated by Presidential Decree No. 491 in June 1974. As the executive arm of the Council, the NNC Secretariat, led by an Executive Director, ensures realignment of its operations to focus on client-based operations and prioritize addressing hunger and malnutrition.
