Food for the brain

The Senate impeachment court resumes today the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Now on its fourth trial day, both the senator-judges and the 15-man House prosecution panel pick up from the cross-examination of the first witness.

On deck is National Bureau of Investigation senior agent John Mark Calilung, testifying on the supposed online briefing while an unhinged VP Sara hurled her alleged death threats.

This is the fourth Article of Impeachment lined up on VP Sara – accused of the high crime of grave threats against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM), his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

If we are to believe official pronouncements from Malacañang Palace, PBBM maintains distance from the impeachment trial of VP Sara but remains focused on his job of governance.

 While the 20th Congress is in recess, 21 of the 24 senators and the House prosecutors, along with key House leaders, publicly assuaged they will try to keep on track with the trial proceedings without delay. The second regular session of Congress is set to resume on July 27 when PBBM delivers his penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Last Friday, Malacañang announced “the President’s budget,” or the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for next year, was reviewed by PBBM and his Cabinet. This was based on the proposed P7.2-trillion budget for 2027 prepared and approved earlier by the Development Budget Coordination Committee.  As mandated under our country’s 1987 Constitution, the President must submit the proposed annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) bill not more than one month after delivery of SONA.

For next year, the Marcos administration is eyeing a total of P7.2-trillion appropriations. This is six percent higher, or P407 billion more than this year’s P6.793 trillion.

In response, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian asked the executive branch to ensure next year’s budget should stimulate economic activity as the country faces risks from elevated global oil prices, the threat of a severe El Niño and rising public debts. Gatchalian vowed the Senate would closely scrutinize the proposed spending plan that will be presented in the 2027 NEP.

Gatchalian previously chaired the Senate finance committee that shepherded the Congress-approved 2026 GAA. It was approved a few months after the President denounced in his SONA the controversial flood control project scam that tainted the 2025 GAA.

Gatchalian earlier cited he gave up the gavel of the impeachment court as presiding officer to senator-judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero so he can attend to more urgent priority legislative duties of the Senate president. Naturally, the legislative tasks in approving the annual budget proposal must take precedence over other bills to meet the constitutional requirement that it must be passed before the end of each fiscal year.

“Aside from prioritizing programs that improve the quality of life of our people, such as infrastructure, education and health care, we must also ensure that the national budget will not be abused and that every peso will be spent for the welfare of our people,” Gatchalian pointed out.

As one of the co-chairpersons of the Educational Commission-2 (EdCom-2), Gatchalian notably identified the programs which the education sector of our country badly needs. Sadly though, it’s not been happening while enshrined also in our 1987 Charter that education services must get the bulk or the so-called lion’s share of the annual budget.

Gatchalian’s co-chair of the EdCom-2, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, told us at our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last week the House already approved a bill seeking to expand the National Feeding Program into a comprehensive National Nutrition Program to combat hunger and malnutrition among children. The proposed bill broadens coverage to all public school learners from Kindergarten to Grade 3 and undernourished students up to Grade 12. It remains pending at the Senate.

In the past nutrition programs of the Department of Education (DepEd) that went through the budget of the national government, much was spent for milk-feeding for grade school children. Romulo, however, rued that there are not even enough cows and carabaos in the Philippines to provide the needed milk supply.

“Even if we have enough numbers (of cows and carabaos), we don’t have a (milk) storage facility,” Romulo deplored. “This (House) measure provides an alternative feeding program.”

As chairman of the House committee on basic education, Romulo co-authored House Bill (HB) 9466, or the proposed National Nutrition Program Act. The measure broadens early childhood nutrition interventions by mandating the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide a fortified meal for at least 200 days per year.

Aside from the DSWD, Romulo explained, HB 9466 also mandates the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other related government agencies to provide the supply value chain in sourcing for fruits, vegetables and other nutritious produce coming from our farmers and local food-makers in support of this DepEd program.

DepEd described this as the scaled-up intervention aligned with Republic Act 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act, that was passed into law in June 2018.

PBBM officially launched last week (July 8) the government’s nationwide School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) and Milk Feeding Activity in Bulacan. The twin school feeding programs seek to address malnutrition, particularly stunting, among Filipino children. PBBM bewailed hunger remains one of the factors affecting children’s ability to learn “due to lack of food.”

Thus, PBBM declared his administration has decided to expand the feeding program to benefit all learners instead of limiting assistance to selected beneficiaries. DepEd will continue with SBFP in providing hot meals, nutritious food products and milk pending passage into law of the proposed universal feeding for all grade schoolers nationwide.

Mayor Isko Moreno began implementing his own locally funded “YorMilk” pilot program, giving free Klim product to Manila schoolchildren. Regular milk consumption supports the brain’s defense systems and helps prevent age-related mental decline.

The academic success of Filipino learners must not only be inclusive but must also include providing food for the brain.