Gov. Gwen Garcia has officially launched Season 2 of the Sugbo School Feeding Program aimed at providing nutritious meals to all public school students in basic education across the entire province.
The simultaneous launching took place on October 28 at Basdiot Elementary School in Moalboal, with participants from other schools all over Cebu joining virtually via Zoom Conference.
This initiative is part of a broader commitment to prioritize education within the provincial budget, in line with the Constitutional mandate to allocate the highest budgetary allocation to education.
Under the program, the Capitol purchases rice which is then distributed equitably to all 1,517 public schools in Cebu Province. It will benefit 966,481 enrolled students for this school year, regardless of nutritional status, from Kindergarten to Grade 12; as school feeding is slated every school day for the entire school year, in close collaboration with the Parent-Teacher Association.
“Kami nagpasalamat ni Gov. Gwen Garcia niining iyang Sugbo Feeding Program nga way gipinid,” said Schools Division Superintendent of DepEd Cebu Province, Dr. Senen Paulin. “Usa ni sa mga loads nga naibot gikan kanamo tungod sa imong kasing-kasing nga naa gayod sa atong kabataan.”
Joining the Governor were second district Congressman Peter John Calderon; Board Members Cesar Baricuatro, Jerome Librando, Glenn Soco, and Loren Singco; her daughter Carissa; and host Mayor Inocentes Cabaron and Vice Mayor Lingling Rozgoni.
During the event, Governor Gwen led a pledge of commitment of the young pupils to study harder and strive for success, with her usual funny admonition to them to not enter romantic relationships before they finish their studies.
The Capitol’s school feeding initiative has also found strong support from the private sector, as San Miguel Foods has donated 10,000 kilos of premium Magnolia chicken, while Century Pacific donated 48,720 cans of Argentina beef loaf for the program.
Globe Telecom has also pledged to donate one million pesos’ worth of rice; while the Bureau of Customs Port of Cebu already made their contribution of 300 sacks of rice for the program.
“Akong saad ninyo, magpadayon ang atong school feeding program para ninyo, magpadayon ang school supplies kay aron gyod kamo tanan ma-encourage pagtuon,” Gov. Gwen told the students.
Aside from the school feeding program, the Capitol has also allocated budget from the Provincial School Board for the school supplies, and T-shirts of all students; as well as armchairs and school buildings for the public schools. | JMT