EDSA Shangri-la, Mandaluyong City
30 May 2016
President Benigno S. Aquino III conferred certificates and medals to the principals and feeding coordinators of schools during the 2nd Busog, Lusog, Talino (BLT) Excellence Awards in Mandaluyong City.
The awardees implemented school feeding initiatives through the support of Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), and applied the BLT standards while employing the Department of Education’s (DepEd) School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP).
The winners for the SBFP category were Taal Elementary School of Iloilo City and Vedasto F. Corcuera Elementary School of Davao City. For the BLT category, Bocohan Elementary School, Rodolfo A. Medel Sr. Elementary School and Bagong Silang Elementary School won. The grand winners were Daniel M. Perez Elementary School of Davao City and Francisco Laya Memorial Integrated School of Iligan City.
In his speech, President Aquino reiterated the importance of good health to the performance of every student, making it one of the concerns along other educational needs. He said that aside from the gaps in the numbers of teachers, classrooms, school seats, and books, the government focused also on the health of the Filipino learners through the SBFP.
“Malinaw din sa karanasan ng ating guro: Napakahirap ipagkaloob ang Talino kapag kumakalam ang tiyan ng mga mag-aaral. Bukod pa diyan, kahit pa libre ang edukasyon, kung wala namang makain, ay tiyak na hindi mabubura ang pagkakaroon ng out-of-school sa ating bansa,” President Aquino said.
He also underscored the relevance of partnership and collaboration of public and private entities for the development of every Filipino. He lauded the efforts and initiatives of the JGF which helped the government and the education sector to improve the SBFP through its BLT.
“Ikinagagalak kong ibalita sa inyo na nitong nakaraang taon, napondohan ang SBFP ng 2.27 bilyong piso, na nakapagpaunlad sa kalusugan ng halos 1.2 milyong mag-aaral sa 29,773 paaralan,” he added.
BLT School Feeding Program of JGF aims to address hunger among the public school pupils from Kinder to Grade 6 by giving daily lunch to the most undernourished learners. Aside from the daily lunch for 120 days, BLT maximizes parent involvement through trainings in food preparation, stakeholder engagement, and employee volunteering. Since its inception in 2007, BLT has helped more than 165,000 pupils. These learners are garnered from 1,567 schools in over 200 municipalities in the country.
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