5-9 February 2018 – The National Nutrition Council (NNC) and Alcanz International, a team commissioned by NNC to develop a Compendium of Actions on Nutrition (CAN), visited the Province of Quezon to compile success stories, good practices and lessons learned from performing local government units (LGUs) in nutrition. Quezon was among the 11 LGUs selected nationwide for the case studies which are high-performing LGUs in nutrition and are either current or past nutrition champions, whether awarded the Green Banner, Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) Award, and Nutrition Honor Award.
The visit involved the conduct of focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and document review with different key persons in nutrition in the province, different sectors and committees involved in nutrition as well as two (2) municipalities in the province, namely: Atimonan and Lopez. They also interviewed the members of the Provincial Nutrition Multisectoral Committee (PNMC) and the Quezon’s First 1000 Days Program (Q1K) Technical Working Group as they were highly involved in the nutrition program management of the province.
During the last day of the visit, a CAN Exit Conference was attended by the PNMC Core Group, the Provincial Nutrition Action Office staff, and was graced by Hon. David C. Suarez, Governor of Quezon, his wife, Rep. Anna Villaraza-Suarez, ALONA Partylist, and Ms. Carina Z. Santiago, Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator of NNC-CaLaBaRZon. Gov. Suarez and Rep. Suarez gladly provided inputs and shared how their “bedtime” talks translated in strengthening the nutrition programs in the province. They also shared anecdotes on how they come up with their own nutrition programs in the province. Their passion for public service and nutrition was reflected as they shared the list of their travels, and conferences attended to not only learn about nutrition and nutrition program management, but share their experiences, as well.
Dr. Celestino F. Habito Jr., Case Study Writer, presented during the exit conference their findings during their visit in the province. He shared that the team gladly identified “shining” elements in Quezon Province. The team commended the leadership, governance, and political will of Gov. Suarez in really pursuing nutrition programs in the province, as well as the holistic aspect of the province as they knew that the Province of Quezon was awarded by various national agencies in 2017. Human resources for nutrition was also identified as a key factor in the success of nutrition programs in the province as staff for nutrition at the provincial, municipal, and even the barangay level were designated all over the province. Also, the budget allocation and investments in nutrition were seen to have really helped in the implementation of their nutrition programs. All of these were also supported by different policies at the provincial level. In addition, program beneficiaries and other nutrition stakeholders had their ownership of different nutrition programs as they were highly participating in the implementation of the programs. Of course, their participation had been recognized by Gov. Suarez during his State of the Province Address in 2017, and the awarding of nutrition champions in the province.
The development of CAN is one of the strategies identified by the National Nutrition Council in the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN 2017-2022) to mobilize and strengthen the capacities of LGUs throughout the country particularly in formulating comprehensive plans of action, making informed decisions and adapting best approaches for successful local level implementation of PPAN.
