No delay in liquidation of feeding program funds: Taguig LGU

Since the funds were downloaded only in December 2016, the program could only be implemented in February or March 2017 by which time classes would be over. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

MANILA— The Taguig City government denied that it has been late in the liquidation of the funds downloaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its day care feeding program.

The Taguig LGU explained that the PHP17.639-million fund was downloaded only last December 2016, and as of this date, the same is being utilized to carry out the feeding program. Hence, it has yet to liquidate the amount.

In a statement Sunday, Dr. Natividad Jimenez, head of the City’s Local School Board (LSB), which is in charge of implementing the day care supplemental feeding program, said the bidding for the program would take about two months.

Since the funds were downloaded only in December 2016, the program could only be implemented in February or March 2017 by which time classes would be over.

The end of classes would mean abbreviating the 120-day timeline of the feeding program. Hence, it was decided by the city government with the concurrence of the DSWD’s coordinator for the program in the National Capital Region that the day care feeding program should be implemented starting June 2017 in order to complete the 120-day program with the same set of beneficiaries.

According to Jimenez, Taguig City’s implementation of the DSWD’s supplementary feeding began on June 19, 2017. So far, 135 daycare centers have benefitted from the ongoing program aimed at feeding 13,363 daycare students.

Jimenez said that once the program is completed, liquidation would be done timely.

The DSWD’s day care feeding program is only supplementary from the Taguig government’s programs targeting daycare pupils. The City Health Office and City Nutrition Office, for instance, hold a free yearly dental checkup for the children, and deworming every six months.

A Parents Effective Seminar (PES) is also conducted by the city’s daycare workers twice a year. Under PES, the local government educates parents about what to feed their children so they can grow to be healthy individuals.

Because of the city’s aim to continue improving the health of Taguigeños, Taguig City was awarded the prestigious Green Banner award by the National Nutrition Council-National Capital Region (NNC-NCR) for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015.

The Green Banner award is conferred to local government units which displayed outstanding performance in implementing its nutrition programs. This consistent performance to eliminate malnutrition in the city also handed Taguig City the CROWN Award in 2016.

The city is currently aiming for the NNC’s top award – the Nutrition Honor Award. This recognition is the highest award given by the NNC to the recipients of CROWN Award which managed to maintain quality nutrition program implementation for another three consecutive years.