Makati to distribute Christmas groceries to 88,000 students

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government will start distributing on Thursday bags of groceries for 88,963 public school children in the city, just in time for Christmas.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay will lead the distribution of the nutrition-packed gifts at the Pembo Elementary School and at the Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino High School.

The project was launched last year as the junior version of the city’s traditional 'Pamaskong Handog ng Makati.' 

This year, some 55,742 students from preschool, elementary and special education classes will each receive one bag containing raisins, instant oatmeal, cheese, double choco chip pancake mix, arroz caldo, champorado, fortified choco powder, tonic food drink, crackers, fruity loops cereal, choco flakes, choco cereal, biscuits, fruit jellies and breadsticks.

Meanwhile, 33,221 Makati high school students will each receive one bag containing raisins, instant oatmeal, cheese, double choco chip pancake mix, arroz caldo, champorado, fortified choco powder, tonic food drink, crackers, canned pork and beans, canned mackerel and instant pancit canton.

Last year, the project earned the approval of the Department of Health through Dr. Eduardo Janairo, then regional director of the Center for Health Development - National Capital Region. Janair lauded the city government for providing students essential nutrients for their increasing physiological needs as adolescents.

Binay said the program was aimed at providing proper nutrition to students so that they would become effective learners, consistent with the city government’s efforts to promote the health and well-being of the youth which are major contributors to their academic performance.

Early this year, the city government through Department of Education - Makati relaunched Project FEED (Food for Excellent Education Development), a feeding program that benefited some 3,881 public schoolchildren of Makati who were undernourished and underweight.

Beneficiaries were provided free lunch, from Mondays to Fridays for a period of 120 days to help them attain their normal weight for better class performance and attendance.

Through its effective nutrition program, Makati has continued to lower its malnutrition prevalence rate, which has been reduced further from 0.73 in 2013 to 0.64 this year.

Meanwhile, the traditional Pamaskong Handog gift-giving project, which has benefited thousands of Makati residents and city government employees for several years now since the term of then Makati Mayor and now Vice President Jejomar Binay, is scheduled to start distribution next week.