The Municipality of Manolo Fortich is a favorite tourism and adventure destination in the country due to its cool climate, rugged terrain and scenic location. Its relatively cool and humid temperature is suitable for various fruits and crop production which makes them Northern Mindanao's Fruit Basket.
Municipal Nutrition Committee (MNC) Chair Mayor Clive D. Quiño prioritized poverty alleviation, health and nutrition of the community by investing and implementing quality program. Since 2007 the locale has sustained the implementation of their very own 15 Special Projects, an anchor for the implementation of Manolo Fortich–Barangay Integrated Development Approach to reduce poverty incidence. The improved quality of their nutrition program lies in some of these programs modified to become nutrition-sensitive to complement the nutrition-specific programs being implemented by the local government.
This improvement in the quality of their nutrition programs proved to be the right move, as there were noticeable gains and improvement in the prevalence of malnutrition in the locality. The formula of implementing effective nutrition programs involved some good practices.
The Real Quality Public Service or RQPS is a mobile service package that aims to make basic services more accessible to all the vulnerable sectors of the community regardless of their location in the municipality. RQPS provides nutrition-sensitive services such as free medical consultation, dental check-up, tooth extraction, free medicines and vegetable seeds to all the barangays of the Manolo Fortich. The provision of free medicines for common diseases among the indigent and marginalized sector of the municipality with the launch of the Botika ng Bayan (BNB) in 2018 being first in Northern Mindanao and fourth in the country. The Botika ng Barangay (BnB) was also established in all barangays and eight (8) big sitios, supervised by the municipal pharmacist, making quality medicines affordable and available to the community.
Manolo Fortich makes use of their natural resources to their advantage. Reinforcing food security as among the priority of the municipal government has enabled the community to establish and maintain 172 communal gardens, including the BNSs’ Garden of Go, Grow and Glow (G4) and school gardens. Produce were used for barangay and school feeding programs. Home backyard gardens or Utanan sa Tugkaran are also maintained to increase food availability in the home that also serves as an additional source of income for the family averaging about ₱200.00 extra earnings per week.
The project Community Lifestyle of Involvement and Value for the Environment (CLIVE) transpired through consideration of environmental sanitation as a crucial factor in improving health and nutritional status. It drives the community towards proper disposal, segregation, and recycling of waste for environmental sustainability. The municipality went as far as procuring a plastic processing plant to recover non-recyclable waste in their desire to protect the environment while benefitting from plastic waste. These are then made into useful products such as bricks, chairs and other useful household items. Meanwhile, some of the recyclables such as pieces of cellophane and magazines are turned into slippers, purse, bags, and belts by the women sector.
The success in improving nutritional status among children brought forth by the LGU's initiatives and support of the barangays only proved that Manolo Fortich can offer more than tourism and adventure. Having maintained the CROWN Award for the second year is a concrete translation of their commitment and dedication to give their townspeople better lives through good nutrition.
