The Philippine government has proposed P17.8 billion (about $306m, or £230m) for school and preschool feeding programmes in its 2027 national budget, as a new household survey finds that one in five Filipino families went hungry at least once in recent months.
Of the total, P11.4 billion would fund the Department of Education’s School-Based Feeding Programme, which provides meals to incoming kindergarten pupils and Grade 1 to 6 learners who are wasted, severely wasted, stunted or severely stunted, as well as children at risk of dropping out, indigenous learners and those from low-income households. A further P6.4 billion is earmarked for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Supplementary Feeding Programme, which serves preschoolers in public child development centres and children in supervised neighbourhood play activities.
House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan publicised the figures, part of the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Programme, at the start of National Children’s Month. They arrive alongside a Social Weather Stations survey showing that 20.3% of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the second quarter of 2026. The survey measures household food insecurity, a broader gauge than child malnutrition, and shows the scale of need the two feeding programmes are meant to address.
Who the school feeding money is meant to reach
The two programmes are designed to catch children at the sharpest edges of food insecurity: those already showing signs of wasting or stunting, and those whose family circumstances put them at risk of leaving school altogether. Indigenous learners and children from low-income households are named as priority groups, reflecting long-standing gaps in nutrition outcomes across the Philippines’ regions. Preschool-age children, served through DSWD’s supervised play centres, fall outside the education department’s remit but face the same risk during the years when stunting takes hold.
Both programmes already run in some form, and the 2027 proposal would expand their funding. Officials have not detailed how many additional children the larger budget is expected to reach, or whether it would raise the value or frequency of meals already being served.
What the 20.3% hunger figure measures
The Social Weather Stations figure of 20.3% records self-reported involuntary hunger among families, a different measure from clinical malnutrition among children. Its release alongside a budget request still subject to congressional approval gives the feeding programmes added political weight in budget talks. Officials have not said whether the P17.8 billion figure will survive the legislative process unchanged.
The plan targets children already flagged as wasted or stunted, along with indigenous and low-income learners.
Nepal faces a similar gap in nutrition data: officials are preparing the country’s first micronutrient survey in a decade.
