Tagudin, Ilocos Sur- The Municipality of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur through Mayor Jose Bunoan, Jr. committed their full support to the Food and Nutrition Security-Early Warning System (FNS-EWS) Project of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) during the preliminary visit to the municipality and FNS-EWS orientation conducted by NNC Regional Office last November 11, 2014 atTagudin Municipal Hall. The orientation was attended by members of the Municipal Nutrition Committee (MNC) spearheaded by the MNC Chairperson, Mayor Bunoan including Presidents of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) and Barangay Health Workers (BHWs)Federations.

Ms. Ma. Eileen Blanco, Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator of NNC Region I said in her message that Tagudin, Ilocos Sur was chosen as an area for the EWS-FNS because of its high prevalence rate of malnutrition based on the 2013 Operation Timbang Results. “Thisis a specific type of food security information system that provides timely notice of impending acute food security crises,” she added.

Ms. Charmaine Joy Jimeno, Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of Tagudin and Ms. Gretchen Nisperos, Nutrition Officer I of NNC-ROI presented the municipal and regional nutrition situations, respectively, based on the latest OPT Plus results. Mr. Kendall Gatan, Nutrition Officer III of NNC-ROI on the other hand, discussed the overview of the project especially on how the LGU of Tagudin will be benefited from it.

Mayor Bunoan was delighted and expressed his interest and supporton the said project and thanked NNC for choosing Tagudin as a pilot area. “Purposely, this is for the municipality to act early to counter the increasing prevalence of undernutrition and to obtain sufficient food in times of disaster.“I am accepting the project on behalf of the LGU of Tagudin and we are looking forward for the successful implementation of this program,” he said.

The consultative workshop is tentatively scheduled on the last week of November 2014 and training for the EWS Team on the third week of January 2015.