By Rose Palacio
President Arroyo ordered government agencies to pool and intensify their efforts and seek the cooperation of the private sector to wipe out hunger in the country.
The Presidents order includes an anti-hunger task force be formed and for the release of P5 billion for the effort, this after successive Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys showed that hunger remained at record high.
National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Domingo Panganiban said he received specific instructions from the President to coordinate with other government agencies to forge a broad alliance that will ensure that services are delivered swiftly and adequately to the people.
The instruction of the President was very clear, Panganiban said. She wanted all agencies to cooperate in order to ensure unhampered, uninterrupted, continuous, and constant delivery of services at all times.
Panganiban said he was tasked to try to enlist the help of non-government organizations and business groups to pitch in the drive against hunger in poor communities, particularly in Metro Manila.
The President wants to have working closely with the NAPC tandem are the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Labor and Employment (DOLE), Agriculture (DA), Health (DOH), Agrarian Reform (DAR), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the National Food Authority (NFA), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), among others, he said.
Secretary Panganiban said the hunger-mitigation program is also targeting the 10 poorest provinces Zamboanga del Norte, Masbate, Maguindanao, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Mountain Province, Lanao del Norte, Camarines Norte, Sarangani, and Zamboanga Sibugay. (PIA XI Dispatch/rbpalacio)
