13 February 2018- the City Nutrition Committee (CNC) of Calamba organized their Bantay Asin Task Force (BATF) – the first among the cities in the region during the 1st CNC meeting held at the DILG Conference Room, Calamba City Hall.
Calamba CNC Vice-Chair, Director Lenie R. Bautista, City DILG presided the said meeting on behalf of Honorable Mayor Justin Marc SB. Chipeco.
RNPC Carina Z. Santiago of the National Nutrition Council discussed the importance of addressing the Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD), the National Salt Iodization Program (NSIP), the terms of reference in the creation of local BATF including the composition, roles and responsibilities of each members and functions of the local BATF as a whole. She mentioned that the government is now campaigning for “adequately iodized salt” and not just iodized salt which can be determined through the SISA seal or the Saktong Iodine Sa Asin seal. She also encouraged them to pass an ordinance or resolution to strengthen the creation of the BATF and include sanctions for the offenders if possible.
The meeting ended with an awarding of the WYD checker by the NNC Calabarzon through the Unicef/DOST as an incentive for the city being the first to organize a local BATF in the region and to enable them to monitor the quality of salt present in the public markets, groceries and other major salt suppliers.
