A charitable and religious group led yesterday’s signing of a memorandum of agreement to address malnutrition among the more than 500 children in Negros Oriental.
In support of the army’s 79th Infantry Battalion, Bantay Bayanihan and barangay health workers, religious group Bethesda Ministries International will provide VitaMeal to school children aged 2 to 12 years old for 120 days. Pregnant and lactating mothers will be included in the project.
At least seven barangays in the province have been identified as beneficiaries of the integrated health and nutrition program. These are barangays Candau-ay of Dumaguete City; Pindahan and Tanglad in Ayungon town; Hagtu and Arebasore of Mabinay; and barangays 3 and 4 of Siaton.
Dr. Donald Soriano, executive director of Bethesda Ministries International, said the feeding program will assist poor families in improving the nutritional status of the children.
Under the agreement, Bethesda will provide several VitaMeal manna packs and dried foods. The VitaMeal supplement contains 25 multi-vitamin fortified rice and lentil packs.
Both Maj. General Leonardo Guerrero of the 79th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division and Col. Allan Martin of 302nd Infantry Battalion committed to support the program. They said this will address the lack of food among the poor families, especially those in the hinterland barangays.
Martin believes that some people in the hinterland barangays resorted to joining the New People’s Army (NPA) movement because of their poor living conditions.
Thus, the military official is also inviting NPA members to submit their children to the feeding program, which also aims to eliminate the province’s insurgency problem.
The army will provide transportation, manpower and other needs including documentation in the implementation of the feeding program.