Single parents, breastfeeding moms included in gov’t food stamp program

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has approved the inclusion of single parents and breastfeeding mothers in the government’s food stamp program eyed for pilot implementation in July, Cabinet officials said on Tuesday.

Their inclusion will strengthen the First 1,000 Days Program which aims to address stunting through maternal nutrition and proper child-feeding practices, Pal- ace briefer Daphne Paez said.

“Ang marching order ng Pangulo, dapat malabanan natin ang stunting at kagutuman at pagsanib-pwersa ng iba’t ibang programa ng gobyerno para hindi sila pieceby-piece ang turing [dito]” Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian told Palace reporters.

“The new dimension that we bring to the table today is folding in the first 1,000 days into the pro- gram... Ang gusto ng Pangulo natin is to add that dimension of stunting into the picture kasi irreversible ‘yun,” he added.

(The marching order of the President is we should fight stunting and hunger by joining the forces of various. government agencies so that the approach would not be piecemeal. The President wants to add that dimension of stunting

Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) parliament member Aida Silongan said in a statement Monday that the unified support was a compelling reason to expedite the passage of the bill, with a target approval date set no later than August this year.

The proposal seeks to address the aspirations and demands of communities that have expressed their desire to be grouped as separate municipalities within the BARMM, Silongan said.

The BARMM villages in North Cotabato are situated in the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigcawayan which have a population of about 300,000.

The 80-member BTA, BARMM’s provisional lawmaking body, held public consultations for the first four bills seeking to establish the towns of Northern Kabacan, Kapalawan, Ligawasan, and Malmar.

BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim has included the measures as among the legislative priorities for this year.

Silongan noted that constituents in the 63 villages have been complaining of inade-

“Basic services are now absent in our barangay. We no longer receive services from North Cotabato since we joined BARMM in 2019 and as of now not all barangays are getting services from BARMM,” said Kagi Abdulkahar a BARMM SGA resident in Carmen, North Cotabato.

Adrian Manabilang, another SGA village resident in Pikit, North Cotabato, said they were not allowed to vote for local officials in the 2022 polls as they were not yet constituted as local government units.

“We were only allowed to vote for national candidates at that time. Creating towns for us is very important, so we can receive basic services from the government like health and social services,” he said.

Silongan said establishing municipalities within the SGA would improve the delivery of basic services and speed up socio-economic development by providing more effective and responsive local governance.

BTA Deputy Floor Leader Mary Ann Arnado said participants in the public consultations showed a consensus in favor of the bill and emphasized their desire for its prompt enactment.

Once constituted into new political units, Ebrahim is tasked with naming local officials from the mayor to town council members until the next local polls in May 2025. (PNA)