MANILA, Philippines – The P5.69 billion School Based Feeding Program (SBFP) of the Department of Education (DepEd) was spoiled by the non-delivery of milk and the serving of stale, even pest-infested, bread in 2023.
State auditors identified at least 21 school divisions in 10 regions where one or all of the following were found:
- Nutribuns with molds or insects
- Rotten food
- Unhygienic packaging
- Food with doubtful dates of manufacturing and expiry
- Non-delivery or delayed delivery of food items and pasteurized milk
The findings were for 2023, the first and last full fiscal year that the DepEd was under secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte, although the SBFP has been running for many years.
The SBFP is a program that provides nutritious food to undernourished students in public elementary schools. The food items that children are served include hot meals, bread, fruits, eggs, sweet potato, and pasteurized milk.
The school division offices (SDOs) that were called out by the Commission on Audit (COA) said they would inspect the facilities where nutribuns are prepared. They would also ask the milk and bread suppliers to address the identified food safety issues with health specialists.
The SDOs also said they would review their supply contracts and adjust procurement schedules for pasteurized and sterilized milk so there will be no more delays in the delivery and there will be mechanisms to replace spoiled items.
The following were the among the worst findings by COA in specific school divisions:
- Bulacan – Food items were “either rotten, unripe or crushed.”
- Aurora – “Pest/insects were found inside Karabun/Milky bun and E-nutribun.”
- Quezon City – The food items were not compliant with the prescribed food types and weights. They were not individually wrapped.
- Palawan – As early as December 2022, the SDO paid the full amount of P25.71 million to the supplier for its 2023 purchases. Goods amounting to P14.59 million were delivered late.
- Camarines Sur – Procurement contracts were not yet signed, so P98.16 million worth of milk products were not delivered.
- Misamis Oriental – E-nutribuns had molds and discoloration even a couple of days before the expiry dates.
- Iligan City – Boxes of food items showed expiry dates later than the expiry dates of the food inside, thus misrepresenting information on safe consumption.
In some instances, school division offices had to distribute the already delayed food items without regard to the feeding program guidelines. Preventing the food from going to waste was prioritized over properly identifying the undernourished students to feed.
This led to the “non-completion of the full cycle of the feeding program for its targeted beneficiaries, hence, the maximum benefits from the program may not be attained.” – Rappler.com