The National Nutrition Council MIMAROPA, together with the District/City Nutrition Program Coordinators Association of the Philippines Inc. (D/CNPCAP) – MIMAROPA and Federation of Barangay Nutrition Scholars (FBNS) – MIMAROPA held its two-day joint meeting on 22-23 March 2022 at the Bell Mansion Hotel, Quezon City.
On the first day, updates on the nutrition program implementation in the participants’ respective LGU were presented. Each of the province’s representative highlighted their notable achievements and best practices, such as conducting couples’ classes in strengthening the F1k awareness in Palawan and budget appropriation of Marinduque for WYD Iodine checker.
This was followed by the report and feedback of Ms. Ramona G. Fortuna, the president of FBNS MIMAROPA, on the 1st LuzViMin FBNS Meeting of 2022. The feedback on 1st National D/CNPCAP Meeting of 2022 was also presented by Ms. Ma. Imee A. Celestino, Treasurer of D/CNPCAP MIMAROPA.
The third agenda was the election of FBNS Officers for 2022-2024. The candidates for each position briefly discussed their accomplishment as a barangay nutrition scholar (BNS) before the proper voting. Ms. April Marasigan, of Calapan City, rose as the newly elected president. After years of leading the organization, Ms. Fortuna took a step down and is now the Vice-President.
After the successful election, NPC-OIC Eileen B. Blanco presided the meeting to discuss the roles of the FBNS officers and the creation of by-laws for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration. As the last activity on the first day of meeting, NO II Bianca Estrella demonstrated the use of the 2022 e-OPT Tools and emphasized the updates included in this year’s tool.
The second half-day meeting covered the guidelines on BNS Assistance Requests presented by NO I Sean Barredo. The participants were also divided into two groups for the brainstorming of technical assistance they deemed necessary from NNC MIMAROPA.
Towards the end of the meeting, the participants were hopeful that this year would show improvement in the nutrition situation in the region. They also expressed that more face-to-face meetings could be done in the succeeding months.
Written by: NO I Sean Frances Barredo
