Region III

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 31 October 2020

DAR 3 Agriculture Secretary William Dar said he sees promising future as Central Luzon leads the way in terms of rice agriculture. (Marie Joy S. Carbungco/PIA-3)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Sep. 15 (By Marie Joy S. Carbungco-PIA) -- Agriculture Secretary William Dar said he sees promising future as Central Luzon leads the way in terms of rice agriculture.

During his visit in Magalang town, the DA executive said farmers in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac provinces are harvesting a minimum of six to ten tons per hectare of rice using the hybrid rice technology.

However, he said despite their high yield, most farmers cannot sell their palay because there are only those buying it at PhP11.00, as compared to the National Food Authority (NFA) which buys it at PhP19.00 per kilo.

With this, Dar said there is a need to teach the farmers to strengthen their cooperatives or associations so they can also do the business of buying and selling rice.

“NFA is only good for buffer stocking. Hoping in the future, when farmers have established cooperative and associations, they can also buy palay so they can mill and sell it. Our vision is for them to have cooperatives and associations which are equipped with rice processing centers,” the DA chief said.

Meanwhile, to help them cope with the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, he said farmers and agripreneurs may still avail of the Expanded SURE Aid and Recovery Project.

“Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2, an amount of PhP2.5 billion was allotted to serve as capital to farmers and agripreneurs. Regions who need this will be given additional funds,” Dar said.

Under this, a marginal farmer or fisher can borrow PhP25,000 with zero interest, and payable in 10 years.

The other category is for micro and small enterprises in agriculture, wherein they can borrow as high as PhP10 million with zero interest and is payable in 25 years.

He said DA, in partnership with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Philippine Air Force (PAF), is also currently cloud seeding in Pantabangan areas to have more rains-induced areas for higher crop yield.

Aside from that, Dar said they are also preparing for La Niña to ensure that this will not have devastating effects to the crops.

“Hopefully, the coming La Niña will not have devastating effects, but would be just enough to fill up most of the dams that we have, which is needed to do second cropping of rice, especially in Nueva Ecija and other parts of Region 3,” he said. (CLJD/MJSC-PIA 3)

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 10 October 2020

POLICY REVIEW 1
Last 5 August 2020, the National Nutrition Council-Region III (NNC-Region III) facilitated an online policy review of the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) of Central Luzon Resolution No. 1 s. 2014: Adopting the National Policy on Nutrition Management in Emergencies and Disasters. The policy review was done through a Focus Group Review with selected Barangay Nutrition Scholars and members of the City and Barangay Nutrition Committees of Meycauayan City, Bulacan via a teleconferencing platform.

Meycauayan City was among the 14 cities in Central Luzon chosen to be part of the policy review as the city, along with Olongapo City, was among those which conducted localized Training on Nutrition in Emergencies after attending the NNC-Region III led training in 2018.

The policy review is a yearly undertaking of the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) and is aimed at assessing the resolutions issued by the RNC in the past five years to a) determine whether the objectives were attained; b) document learnings gained; and 3) provide recommendations on the challenges and issues encountered during implementation.

The policy review revealed that BNSs were actively involved during times of emergencies and disasters as they are considered as valuable human resource on the ground in providing emergency response on top of their mandated functions of taking the weight and height or length measurement of the children, giving nutrition counseling and providing seeds and seedlings, among others.

Questions asked during the FGD were translated to Filipino for easier understanding. But some questions appear to be difficult to answer such as those pertaining to organization of the local nutrition cluster, presence of Executive Order or local ordinance and orientation among BNC members on the NNC Governing Board on Nutrition in Emergencies and availability of Nutrition in Emergencies plan. But when asked on their recollection about disasters or emergencies experienced in their barangay from 2013 to 2016, most of the participants narrated how they responded, including their challenges and participation in the submission of reports.

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 14 July 2020

final In line with the observance of the 46^th Nutrition Month (NM) this year, the National Nutrition Council-Region III successfully held the Second Quarter Central Luzon Regional Nutrition Committee (CL-RNC) meeting on 30 June 2020. Combatting stunting was the main focus of the meeting, in line with the 2020 Nutrition Month theme “Batang Pinoy, SANA TALL . . . Iwas Stunting, SAMA ALL! Iwas ALL din sa COVID-19”.

Ms. Marilou Enteria, Nutrition Officer IV of the Nutrition Information and Education Division of the National Nutrition Council Central Office was invited as a resource person who gave an in-dept discussion as to why preventing and combatting stunting was the focus of this year’s nutrition month theme. She also presented the 2020 Nutrition Month objectives and what are the campaign’s aims which is to:

raise awareness on the impact of stunting and evidence-based solutions among families and communities leading to change in behaviors to prevent stunting;
stimulate national for increased investments in interventions; and
generate concrete commitment and local (including communities) discourse on stunting to understand its causes and the multi-sectoral solutions among various stakeholders to scale-up nutrition actions.

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 03 August 2020

CLABI MEETING Muli, sa aming layunin na maiparating ang maigting na pagnanais na masugpo ang stunting, naisagawa ang isang on-line na pagpupulong para sa ating mga itinuturing na bagong bayani ng bayan.

Minabuti ng NNC-Region III na tawagin ang members ng Central Luzon Association of Barangay Nutrition Scholars, Incorporated (CLABI) Board noong ika-24 ng Hulyo 2020 sa isang follow-through meeting. Sila ay naging bahagi ng isinagawang 7 batches ng virtual Provincial Consultative Meetings mula ika-26 ng Hunyo hanggang ika-9 ng Hulyo 2020.

Hindi naman maikakaila na naging dahilan din nang hindi pagdalo ng mga BNS sa naturang pulong ay ang kawalan ng laptop o computer; kakayahan ng BNS sa paggamit ng makabagong information technology at kawalan ng signal o internet connection sa tirahan ng mga BNS.

Nguni’t wika nga, “pagkahaba-haba man ng prusisyon, sa simbahan din ang tuloy”. Nanaig pa rin ang passion for nutrition. Isang halimbawa ay ang pagdalo ng pangulo ng BNS federation ng Balanga City na sa kasalukuyang nasa United States of America ngayon. Gamit ang kanyang cellphone, nag-upload ng zoom app, ay nagtiyagang makinig, maghain ng panukala ukol sa mga paksang tinalakay at nagsumite ng kanyang “homework” kahit siya ay napuyat.

Layunin ng pulong na ito na maisagawa ang mga sumusunod: 1) magkaroon ng malayang talastasan at pagbibigay ng saloobin ng bawat isa; 2) pag-usapan ang mga bagay na sadyang kailangan ng bawat bayan at barangay; 3) makapagbigay ng tamang ayuda sa mga BNS ayon sa tama o tiyak na pagsasanay o specific training needs para tugunan ang pangangilangan din ng kanyang mga nasasakupan; at 4) malaman ang plano ng Team CLABI bilang tulong sa mga barangay upang matutukan ang problema ng stunting.

Ang mga paksang tinalakay o agenda ng pagpupulong ay ang mga sumusunod: 1) Presentation of Accomplishments and Constitution and By-Laws of the Central Luzon Association of Barangay Nutrition Scholars, Inc. (CLABI) by former CLABI President; 2) Presentation of Status of CLABI Funds; 3) Status of the SEC Registration; 4) Feedback on the LuzViMin BNS, Inc Meeting by current CLABI President; 5) Role of BNSs in the PPAN and in the prevention of child stunting; 6) Assessment of Functionality of Local Nutrition Committees; 6) Report of the World Bank on its study on “Do beliefs and attitudes of frontline nutrition and health workers play a part in the persistence of chronic undernutrition in the Philippines?”; and 7) Mini-Workshop – “homework” to be submitted on 28 July 2020.

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 03 July 2020

cleared Not only are boys aged 8 and 9 quite a handful to handle sometimes, but they are also very picky eaters. When it comes to making them eat nutritious food, (although they would always eat what's on the table after some whining and complaining), it sometimes becomes a challenge to moms like me.

My two boys each have his own preference when it comes to food. My son Marco loves eating processed foods like hotdogs, spam, chicken nuggets, and the like. Lance, on the other hand, loves eating soup dishes and leafy vegetables (so he's not really so much of my problem). While it is a joy to see your kids enjoy eating the food they prefer, it is a must to ensure that what they consume is good and advantageous for their health.

This is why, when we compare their weight and body structure, Lance is even heavier than his Kuya! Marco is thinner and easily gets sick most of the time. Looking at him with his former classmates, Marco is smaller in terms of both height and weight. It can be assumed (although we really have to see his pediatrician) that Marco may be suffering from stunting.

According to the World Health Organization, stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median."

July of every year marks the celebration of the National Nutrition Month. This 2020 is the 46th year of the National Nutrition Month and the theme is "Batang Pinoy, SANA TALL . . . Iwas Stunting, SAMA ALL! Iwas ALL din sa COVID-19. This expresses the aspiration of every Filipino family to have children who are able to achieve their fullest potential and this can be achieved when we all work together.

In the same manner, as the whole world grapples with COVID-19, the sub-theme "Iwas ALL din sa COVID-19" is added, considering the pandemic and the community quarantine still in effect. It emphasizes more the importance of ensuring nutrition among Filipinos to improve resilience against disease and minimize the long-term effects of malnutrition.

Details: Category: Region 3; Published: 24 July 2020

for consultative meeting
Ang kasabihan: ‘Kapag gusto may paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan”.

Muli na naman itong pinatunayan ng NNC-Region III Team at naging isang hamon na sa bandang huli ay naging isang matagumpay na gawain. Napag tagumpayan ng aming team ang pagsasagawa ng 7 batches ng online Provincial Consultative Meetings, na dinaluhan ng mga nutrition workers mula ika-26 ng Hunyo hanggang ika-9 ng Hulyo 2020.

Ang mga balakid o dahilan upang hindi makadalo ay ang kawalan ng laptop o computer; kakayahan ng nutrition worker sa paggamit ng makabagong information technology o di kaya naman ay kawalan ng signal o internet connection. Nakatutuwang isipin na bagama’t may ganitong sitwasyon, hindi pa rin nagbago ang suporta ng mga nutrition workers na aming nakasama, kahit na para sa ibang nutrition workers ito ay nagdulot din ng dagdag na gastos gamit ang “load data” ng kanilang cellphone upang makadalo sa pagpupulong. Tuloy ang passion for nutrition, ika nga.

Ito ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit ang NNC-Region III ay naglunsad sa panahon ng selebrasyon ng Buwan ng Nutrisyon 2020 ng isang Provincial Consultative Meeting na tumutukoy sa pagsasakatuparan ng programang pangnutrisyon sa 7 lalawigan, 14 na siyudad at 116 na mga bayan sa rehiyon ng Gitnang Luzon.