8 November 2019, Cagayan de Oro City – Nutrition exemplars gathered and urged nutrition and planning and development focal persons to prioritize nutrition programs during the Planners’ Forum held on 7 November at Dynasty Court Hotel, this city.
The Planners’ Forum focused on Integrating Nutrition in the Local Development Plans and Budgets. The activity was derived from the series of planning workshops for priority areas of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC), which are Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte for Region 10. Some 72 Nutrition Action Officers and Planning and Development Coordinators from Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental LGUs gathered to attend the Forum.
One of the highlights of the activity was Session 2: Why Invest in Nutrition where nutrition exemplars shared their good practices on integrating nutrition in the local development plans. Together with Valencia City Vice-Mayor and Nutrition Committee Co-Chair Dr. Policarpo P. Murillo, IV, Kadingilan Municipal Nutrition Action Officer Jesus “Jake” D. Dumangon and CDO City Asst. City Planning and Development Coordinator Mabel V. Marte served as session panelists, anchored by NNC X NO II Sheena Marie G. Talle. Kadingilan and Valencia City, Bukidnon claimed the highest award in nutrition, the Nutrition Honor Award in 2012 and 2015, respectively, while Cagayan de Oro City achieved the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) Award which is given to LGUs awarded with the Green Banner Award for three consecutive years.
Dr. Murillo, in his preliminary statement, presented Valencia City’s best practices and expressed that logistics and nutrition inputs, manpower complement, financial requirements and infrastructure are necessary ingredients for a successful nutrition program. Without one cog, the whole system will not work. It was through this approach that the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old in Valencia City plummeted from 2.01% in 2012 to 0.78% in 2018.
Meanwhile, MNAO Jake Dumangon shared that through his 26 years of handling the nutrition program, he emphasized that there is a need to adjust with the leaders in lobbying nutrition and the need to push the nutrition program for positive outcomes. Throughout his years in service, he has mentored several LGUs including awardee LGU Valencia City.
Asst. CPDC Marte shared that Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno posed a challenge to his constituents to be a nutrition awardee. Mayor Moreno’s commitment to the social issue made it easy to convince decision and policymakers to invest in nutrition. Manpower also played a crucial role in shepherding barangays to prioritize nutrition.
Dr. Murillo and MNAO Dumangon both emphasized the problem tree as their basis of reasoning on why other local governments should invest in nutrition. The panelists encouraged the participants to focus on nutrition and the First 1000 Days. “We are hitting a lot of problems by making nutrition as an entry point,” Dr. Murillo said. Asst. CPDC Marte added that investing in nutrition will produce healthy communities coupled with a decrease in curative and other medical expenses in the future.
When asked of the roles of NAOs, MNAO Dumangon said that each NAO should be aware of their roles and not carry the sole burden of the program. “Nutrition Action Officers should be WISE. They should be willing to innovate, strategize, execute and experiment,” he added. NAOs should take control and initiate coordination with other agencies.
Although PDCs’ roles on facilitating the formulation of local development plans is already a given, Asst. CPDC Marte stressed that the PDCs should make sure themselves that nutrition is included as a priority and likewise check with the budget officer of the funding allocation of the programs.
Representing the local chief executives, Dr. Murillo advised the NAOs to provide reliable, concrete data and give support to the LCE in making decisions being the focal person in nutrition. He emphasized that in planning activities, participation of other offices is indispensable. As former Chairperson on the Committee of Health, he also advised to have the Sangguniang Bayan approve the nutrition action plan to further make sure that nutrition is integrated in the Annual Investment Plan. Moreover, he believes that no matter how different the LCE’s priorities are, there will always be a soft spot in a leader’s heart that will make him/her appreciate the nutrition program, thus he quoted, “Nobody in his right mind will not invest in a program with a noble intention.” (NO II Sheena Marie G. Talle)
