Palawan Province – As part of the Baragatan Festival 2022, the Liga ng mga Barangay in partnership with the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) convened for the Barangay-Yan sa Baragatan at the Asturias Hotel, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan last 16 June 2022. It was attended by almost 800 Barangay Captains and SK Officials from the 23 municipalities throughout Palawan with the aim of discussing the problems in the barangays such as malnutrition, low vaccination rate, and peace and order throughout the province.
To address the malnutrition problem in the province, Provincial Nutrition Action Officer (PNAO) Rachel T. Paladan and Liga ng mga Barangay President and Ex-Officio Member Ferdinand P. Zaballa invited the National Nutrition Council (NNC) headed by Assistant Secretary and Executive Director (A/Sec and ED) IV Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang together with Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator (NPC) and OIC of NNC MIMAROPA Ma. Eileen B. Blanco to present the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) and the 2021 MIMAROPA Nutrition Situation.
A/Sec and ED Dr. Dayanghirang presented the Nutrition in the New Normal: Invest in the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) Programs wherein she emphasized the threat of malnutrition in our country’s development especially with the high malnutrition prevalence rate (MPR) of stunting in the country. She showed ways on how to address malnutrition through nutrition-specific, nutrition-sensitive, and enabling programs. She also presented the roles of the Barangay Captains as Barangay Nutrition Committee (BNC) Chair and then encouraged them and the SK Officials to intensify the efforts for the first 1000 days of life and further scale up programs in nutrition.
NPC-OIC Blanco discussed the 2021 MIMAROPA Regional Nutrition Situation which includes the presentation of the Top Ten Depressed Municipalities in Palawan and urged the Barangay Captains not to get discouraged on the situation but instead focus on the ways on how to address malnutrition. She suggested ways forward such as organizing the Barangay Nutrition Committee and for the BNC to invest on nutrition, formulate BNAP, and oversee the implementation of the nutrition programs. She also asked the SK Officials to participate by assisting the barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) in OPT activities, integrate nutrition-related programs and projects in the Comprehensive Barangay Youth Development, and assist in the nutrition promotion and advocacy in the community.
Both encouraged the Barangay Captains and SK Members to continue spearheading the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, and promotion of the nutrition programs in their respective barangays, and hoped for a decrease in MPR in Palawan.
Written by: IMO Xylene Ann B. Notario
