ZAMBOANGA CITY—The “food-for-school program” being undertaken by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Food Authority (NFA) benefited 125,085 public-school pupils this month in Western Mindanao.

NFA assistant regional director Rolando Maravilla said the children-beneficiaries are enrolled in 880 public schools in the region.

Of the 880 public schools, 708 are from Zamboanga del Norte, 111 in Zamboanga del Sur and 61 in Zamboanga Sibugay province, according to Maravilla.

Maravilla said the city of Zamboanga was not included in the food-for-school program, since there were no poor communities reported by the city government. He said respective local government units  identify the beneficiaries in a particular region.

Of the total number of pupils who benefited from the program, 101,679 are from Zamboanga del Norte, 12,900 from Zamboanga del Sur and 10,506 from Zamboanga Sibugay province.

He said the pupils-beneficiaries are enrolled in Grades One to Three, with each of them receiving a kilo of iron-fortified rice for 12 days this month of June.

He said the program is part of the national government’s feeding program for children coming from poor families in the countryside.

It is also part of the government’s poverty-mitigation program and, at the same time, serves as a way to encourage parents to send their children to school.