Ordinances from Malabon and Pasig were selected from among the nutrition and nutrition-related ordinances in the country that will be featured in the National Nutrition Council’s publication of Compendium of Local Ordinances on Nutrition. In this publication, selected 20 local ordinances will be featured from the 17 regions, across various thematic clusters.
Narratives of Malabon City Ordinance No. 06-2020 “An Ordinance Strengthening the Karinderia para sa Kalusugan ni Chikiting at Buntis in the City of Malabon, Institutionalizing its Operating Mechanism and for Other Purposes” and Pasig City Ordinance No. 64 s. 2017 “An Ordinance Mandating all public and private preparatory, elementary and secondary schools to promote healthy food and beverages, prohibiting the sale and/or promotion of all unhealthy food and beverages inside school gate and within 50 meters of the school’s gate and providing penalties for the violation thereof” are both nearing completion.
The compendium is a project of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) in partnership with the Nutrition Action Officers’ Association of the Philippines (NAOPA) with support from Nutrition International and UNICEF. The project specifically aims to develop and sustain a knowledge-sharing platform for local government units (LGUs) to learn and adopt initiatives of local governments that have successfully harnessed the capacity of local ordinances to scale up nutrition program implementation for the achievement of nutrition outcomes. The project also aims to widely disseminate actual examples of responsive and effective local ordinances on nutrition in two forms: the online compilation and the printed publication that can be publicly accessed by local governments aspiring to use legislation to scale up their nutrition programs.
In 2020, NNC regional offices all over the country including NNC-NCR started the process of selecting the ordinances by gathering all nutrition and nutrition-related policies shared and submitted by all the LGUs in the region. NNC-NCR received a total of 54 local ordinances, 4 local codes, 22 Executive Orders and 28 resolutions. These policies were screened in terms of their responsiveness, coverage and reach, impact, and replicability. The NNC-NCR endorsed three (3) ordinances to the National Project Team (NPT) for further screening. After thorough assessment and consultation meetings, the NPT approved the inclusion of the ordinances from the cities of Malabon and Pasig in the compendium.
To date, Malabon and Pasig have already approved the final narrative of their respective ordinances after a series of online review and a meeting with the NPT. The narratives are now on the final editing and writing aesthetics.
The publication of the compendium is set to be in May. With this publication, it is expected that more LGUs will be motivated to scale up nutrition actions to achieve nutrition outcomes of the PPAN. The PPAN or the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition is country’s framework in improving the nutrition situation. The policies submitted by the LGUs through the NNC regional offices can be viewed online via the Compendium portal in the NNC website (www.nnc.gov.ph)
LGUs are encouraged to enact local ordinances on nutrition as they are important policy instruments in ensuring the successful implementation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) at the local level. Dahil sa PPAN, panalo ang bayan!
Written by NOIII Emerenciana L. Francia and NPC Milagros Elisa V. Federizo
Reference: Overall Guide to the Compendium of Local Ordinances on Nutrition
