President Rodrigo Roa Duterte vows to put a stop to hunger and malnutrition by putting nutrition – along with health, education, employment, and infrastructure – on top of his administration’s priorities. President Duterte through Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. made this commitment during the 2016 National Nutrition Awarding Ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center, December 13.
The awarding ceremony is an annual event of the National Nutrition Council to recognize outstanding local government units (LGUs) and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) with effective and efficient implementation of nutrition programs resulting to improved nutrition situation of infants, young children, and mothers.
Secretary of Health and Chair of the NNC Governing Board Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial, Undersecretary Halmen Valdez of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, NNC Governing Board Vice-Chair Agriculture Undersecretary Ranibai Dilangalen, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Francia Laxamana and NNC Deputy Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang representing Assistant Secretary of Health and NNC Executive Director Maria-Bernardita Flores conferred the nutrition awards. Guests included officials from NNC Governing Board member agencies along with 500 other participants representing various stakeholders.
Topping the list of winners across the five different award categories are the cities of Cauayan in Isabela, Mandaluyong, and Valencia in Bukidnon, which were conferred with the Nutrition Honor Award (NHA) – the highest distinction in nutrition for LGUs that were able to sustain improvement in the nutritional status of their constituents for six consecutive years. Winners received one million pesos in cash as grant.
Other awards given were the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition or CROWN Award (for exemplary performance in the past 3 years) and the 1st and 2nd Year CROWN Maintenance Awards.
The winners of the CROWN Award are the provinces of Bulacan, Benguet, Zamboanga Sibugay, and South Cotabato; the cities of Ilagan in Isabela, Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, Baguio, Taguig, and Zamboanga; and the municipalities of Numancia in Aklan, and Pamplona in Negros Oriental.
The First Year Crown Maintenance Awardees include the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan Del Sur; Sta. Rosa City in Laguna; and the municipalities of Ivana in Batanes, Alfonso Lista in Ifugao, Piñan in Zamboanga del Norte, and Malungon in Sarangani.
The lone recipient of the Second Year CROWN Maintenance Award is the municipality of Maramag in Bukidnon.
On the other hand, the coveted title of the 2015 National Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar (NOBNS) was awarded to Mr. Danilo N. Posion of Barangay Iruhin Central, Tagaytay City.
BNS Posion bested 42,000 other BNSs deployed nationwide. His notable efforts in promoting good nutrition in his community include the development of an “IC Nutri-Flyer” – a one-page briefer on various nutrition topics as well as his “Isinalin ko para matutunan mo” project where he translated the English version of nutrition education materials of NNC into Filipino.
The winners of the Nutrition Honor Award, CROWN Award, CROWN Maintenance Award, and NOBNS Award were evaluated from April to October 2016 for their accomplishments in 2015, endorsed by the interagency National Nutrition Evaluation Team and confirmed by the NNC Technical Committee. The CROWN awardees were deliberated on by the respective Regional Nutrition Evaluation Teams, and confirmed by the Regional Nutrition Committees.
The NNC has been presenting the awards since 1978. Winners, both LGUs and the BNSs, receive cash prize and trophy in recognition of their efforts toward nutrition improvement.
The NNC is the country’s highest policy-making and coordinating body on nutrition.
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