04/09/2026
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄
𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 1,000 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒: 𝐍𝐍𝐂 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐋𝐆𝐔-𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐔𝐒𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓 8.7 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍
The National Nutrition Council (NNC) welcomes the constructive guidance and legislative oversight provided by the Senate during its budget hearing. Responding to discussions on child stunting rates, performance evaluation frameworks, and program ex*****on, the NNC reaffirmed its core statutory mandate while outlining clear strategic shifts to tackle malnutrition more effectively across the country’s estimated 8.7 million children under five years old.
Addressing concerns raised by lawmakers, DOH Undersecretary and NNC Executive Director IV Dr. Albert Francis E. Domingo clarified that under Presidential Decree No. 491, the Council functions primarily as a policy-formulating and coordinating body rather than a direct implementation agency. Directing massive, centralized feeding operations from a policy office often creates procurement and supply chain bottlenecks; instead, the agency maintains that implementation belongs on the ground. Consequently, major dietary supplementation funds, such as those requested under the Department of Health (DOH) Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB), are designed to be downloaded directly to Local Government Units (LGUs). This empowers local chief executives and community frontliners to take full ownership of nutrition programs within their jurisdictions.
To ensure these localized efforts yield real results, the NNC is overhauling its monitoring and evaluation systems. In response to Senate observations regarding LGU performance ratings, the Council is transitioning away from measuring basic process inputs—such as planning documents or administrative compliance—toward tracking tangible outputs and long-term health outcomes. By utilizing multi-sectoral scorecards in coordination with partner agencies like the DBM, DILG, DepEd, and DSWD, local government performance will now be directly measured by actual reductions in child stunting, wasting, and underweight rates.
Central to this operational shift is the institutionalization of an expanded "Unang Yakap" First 1,000 Days benefit package in partnership with PhilHealth and the DOH. This comprehensive continuum of care addresses malnutrition from pre-conception, utilizing food fortification strategies like adding folate to flour to prevent birth defects, all the way through antenatal care, immediate newborn vaccination, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding up to 59 months.
To drive family engagement beyond current 4Ps beneficiaries, the NNC is exploring ways to link routine health center visits with broader incentive programs, such as food assistance initiatives. These efforts will be driven on the frontlines by the nation's network of over 42,000 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS), who conduct direct household mapping to reach every malnourished child in the most remote communities.
The NNC maintains that form must follow function, and that policy must align seamlessly with local ex*****on. By sharpening its focus on outcome-based metrics, empowering LGUs, and safeguarding the first 1,000 days of life, the Council remains fully committed to ensuring that public resources directly translate into a healthier, stunting-free future for all Filipino children.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭:
𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐒 𝐄. 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐎, 𝐌𝐃, 𝐌𝐒𝐜
Undersecretary of Health and
Concurrent Executive Director IV
National Nutrition Council
c/o
𝐃𝐑. 𝐄𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐉𝐀𝐘 𝐃. 𝐃𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋, 𝐌𝐒𝐍, 𝐌𝐁𝐀
Nutrition Officer V and Chief, Nutrition Information and Education Division
8843-01-42 | [email protected]. ph
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐍𝐂
The National Nutrition Council is the highest policymaking and coordinating body on nutrition mandated by Presidential Decree No. 491 in June 1974. As the executive arm of the Council, the NNC Secretariat, led by an Executive Director, ensures realignment of its operations to focus on client-based operations and prioritize addressing hunger and malnutrition.
