Siaton, Negros Oriental - While the Balik Probinsya program has been implemented throughout the country, the nutrition-sensitive tweak that the Municipality of Siaton, Negros Oriental has initiated, provides a definite impact on food security in their community, especially to those who have just gone back to the province. The unplanned movement of this population has lost the affected people’s jobs and livelihood which posted a potential threat to their nutrition status and that of their families.

At the height of the pandemic, the municipality was on top in shouldering the traveling expenses of their community members who were stuck in urban centers. The local government of Siaton headed by its Local Chief Executive Hon. Cezanne Fritz H. Diaz with the Municipal Council extended their support to Siatanons who were unable to come home due to the COVID-19 crisis. The “Locally Stranded Individual-Balik Probinsya Program” offered free transportation of affected population from Cebu or Manila to Siaton,

Aside from the transport assistance, the municipality also provided them with opportunities to earn a living upon their return. Livelihood programs in the form of seed capital were provided by the municipal social welfare and agriculture offices. They were also given free tilapia fingerlings and vegetable seeds thru the town’s Sustainable Livelihood Program that to date benefited more than 800 members from different SLP associations.

The project helps ensure food security to the population and has thus helped mitigate malnutrition during the pandemic. The initiative enabled the municipality to halt its wasting prevalence pre-pandemic level at 2.9% in 2021. // NGS