Not only the Manila City Government is the one planning to bring back the Marcos-era Nutribun program in their place, even Marikina City already implemented the said project to solve the malnutrition in their jurisdiction.
According to Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, he wanted the children in his place to avoid suffering from hunger while they’re studying.
He said that public school students of Marikina City who are studying from kindergarten to Grade would receive a piece of the free nutritious bread with a free glass of milk.
There are around 21,000 kinder and Grade 1 public school students in the city.
“Sa public schools maraming undernourished, kaya ang intervention namin ay feeding program,” Marcelino said.
“We found out na ang ibang bata ay walang mga baon kaya wala silang makain na masustansya,” he added.
Mayor Marcelino and Mayor Isko Moreno
Teodoro also revealed that their nutribun is made up of nutritious ingredients like, eggs, squash, and malunggay.
Marikina City Government is aiming to end malnutrition by next year.
Nutribun program became popular under the leadership of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.
The government took over the production of the bread in 1975 which originally came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The said program was considered a success after the rate of malnutrition in the Philippines fell drastically.
Some Marikeño who lived during the Marcos period said that the nutribun made by the Marikina City government tasted like the bread made during the 1970s however, the current version of it is softer.