Mothers feed their children during the Department of Science and Technology feeding program in Zamboanga del Norte’s Roxas town. The activity is joined by Roxas Mayor Eduardo Yebes and DOST Regional Director Brenda Manzano.
DIPOLOG CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 7, 2011) – The Department of Science and Technology in Western Mindanao launched a feeding program for some 300 children in the town of Roxas in Zamboanga del Norte province.
The children – 30 of them aged 4 to 6 years old - identified by the Municipal Nutrition Action Office as underweight and lacked the necessary nutrients, were beneficiaries of the three-month supplemental feeding program held on Tuesday on the village of Nabilid.
The children will be supplied with the necessary food requirements for the entire duration of the program.
During the activity, nutritious foods from DOST-assisted micro, small and medium enterprises (SME) in the region were served with squash breads from Baron Bakeshop, calamansi juice from Zambo Tropical, iron-fortified rice, and nutri-booster cereals for younger children.
Roxas Mayor Eduardo Yebes said he was happy that his town was chosen by the DOST as beneficiary of the feeding program.
“We are grateful to DOST-IX for choosing Roxas town as beneficiary of this nutri-feeding. This is a big help towards our campaign to alleviate the malnutrition in this village and the entire municipality,” he said.
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) said the town has registered high cases of malnutrition among the rest of the municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte.
Engineer Marcial Dahonan, DOST Provincial Science and Technology Director, praised the local government of Roxas for its support to the program.
DOST Regional Director Brenda Manzano said the nutri-feeding activity was the agency’s response towards improving the nutrition among children in rural areas. “We want to assure that the food products developed out of our technology truly benefit and reach our people,” she said.
This nutri-feeding program is part of the weeklong celebration of the Regional Science and Technology Week which started July 4 and will end on July 10 in Dipolog City. This year’s celebration theme is “Nasa Siyensiya ang Pag-asa.” The theme underscores the importance of science and technology in the economic development of the country.
Last year, a similar feeding program was also conducted in Tigbao town in Zamboanga del Sur province.
DOST also held on Wednesday a seminar and workshop on Technology Training on Food Processing in Dipolog City. Some 35 participants attended the one-day seminar on food processing technologies.
On Monday, the DOST also joined a multi-sectoral tree planting caravan that ushered the opening of the Regional Science and Technology Week in Dipolog City. It was participated by different government agencies, local government units, and academe, businesses, and non-government organizations. Some 300 Mahogany seedlings were planted along the road in the village of Minaog. (With reports from Nuhman M. Aljani and Thelma E. Diego)
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