Cebu City – At its second year as Central Visayas'  most outstanding municipality, the town of Pamplona is in a quandary as to what will become of its rise towards the much coveted Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) Award and the hope to reach the elusive Nutrition Honor Award as the area, together with the rest of Negros Oriental, separates from Central Visayas to join Negros Occidental as they form the Negros Island Region (NIR).

Pamplona, on its second bid for the CROWN, would have been the first of the municipalities of Negros Oriental to receive the award having first been awarded the Green Banner for its 2013 performance.

With the impending separation of the island from Central Visayas, Municipal Nutrition Action Officer, Dr. Beth Nemiajoy G. Catacutan puts on a brave face in the midst of uncertainty as she thanked the National Nutrition Council, the Regional Nutrition Committee and the Provincial Nutrition Committee during the 2015 Grand Nutrition Awards on 04 August 2015 at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu, Cebu City.  In her remarks, Dr Catacutan expressed apprehension that Pamplona needs a lot of technical support to reach that much coveted CROWN which the new regional structure may not yet be able to provide.

As a strategy to prevent and rehabilitate malnutrition in the community, the Pamplohanons devised innovative projects in every barangay to address the problem. Projects such as fish ponds, local plant syrups, waste management, Sunting ointment production and many others, the beneficiaries of proceeds of which are the families of the malnourished children.

Indeed Pamplona has a bright nutritious future ahead of it, a future that Central Visayas Regional Nutrition Committee vows to continue helping out until Pamplon is able to stand alone. //NGS