The Regional Development Council (RDC) VIII- Social Development Committee during its 3rd Quarter 2017 meeting presided over by SDC VIII Chairperson, DOST VIII Regional Director Edgardo M. Esperancilla, adopted the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 on 6 September 2017 at the Felipina Hall, NEDA VIII Building, Government Center, Palo, Leyte.
The PPAN 2017-2022 was enthusiastically presented by the NNC VIII Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator (RNPC), Dr. Catalino P. Dotollo, Jr. In his preliminary statement he enjoined every agency and development partners to listen attentively and chunk a bite of the PPAN 2017-2022.
The plan document is an integral part of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) which aimed at achieving the Ambisyon 2040 by improving the quality of the human resource base of the country, reducing inequality in human development outcomes and reducing child and maternal mortality.
In the same manner, the Eastern Visayas Regional Nutrition Situation during the presentation was given emphasis by RNPC Dotollo to which Northern Samar League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) President Mayor Don L. Abalon, proposed for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to allow the use of the local development funds in addressing malnutrition in the region. Region VIII ranks second from ARMM with the highest number of stunted children and again second from MIMAROPA with the highest number of wasted children.
The PPAN 2017-2022 was approved by the NNC Governing Board through NNC Governing Board Resolution No. 1, series of 2017 which will involve the implementation of a mix of nutrition-specific programs which addresses the immediate causes of malnutrition, complemented by the Nutrition-sensitive Program that includes existing development projects which are tweaked to produce nutritional outcomes and the strong Enabling Programs to include 1) Mobilization of LGUs for nutritional outcomes, 2) Policy development for food and nutrition, and 3) Strengthened management support to PPAN.
