Monday, February lO, 2O2O

'Pass bill ensurins()

food is enough
in times ofcrises'
BY JovEE MARrE N. DELA CRUZ
t @jovpenqie

A LAWMAKER is pushing {or the passage

A of a measur" creating a commission that
l, \.ould er,"'.,re adequite tood supply du r-
ing natural calamities or crises.
House DeputyMaiodtyLeader Rep. CamilleVil-
lar said the Commission on the fught to Adequate
Food is among the main features ofher House Bill
5785. The bill is pending before the House Com-
mittee on Food and Security.
Under the bill, the commission will be the
primarypolicy-making and coordinating bodyto
guarantee the implementation and full exercise
of the right to adequate food. It will be directly
under the Office of the PresidenL.
Itwill enioymonitoringandoversightfunctions,
apply human-rights principles, conduct objective
impact assessment on all goverrrme\nfpolicies, pro-
gramsandprojectspriorto adoption andimplemen-
tation, work in close cooperationwith civil-society
organizations, anduse allavailable resources of the
'government and priLt" bodi"" o, o.ganizations.
SEE "FooD,',.A12

and runl derelopment; and percentaqe of rural

Food...
CoNTTNUBD FBoM A,'
The bill said the (om mhsion-in coodination
with the llational Disarter Risk Red0dion and
ll4anagement (ouncil {tlDRR[,]()-rhould en5ure
thatthe government! food emergeDCy rQrponset
ruffidently coverboth early warning responser and
disaster preparedness; and thatfood rcrponses are
organized and managed€ffi(lentl, effectively, a nd
are compliantwith the rlght to adequatetood and
relevant intenational.standards.
The fiea!ure ak0 intend! t0 rteadilyin(r€ase
the p€rcentage of d€vel0pme[t of a ncestra
landr;I
pel(enta9€ of rural population with a(cers t0
produdive retour(€5; share of budget spent on
p.ogrant aimed at deating ac(etrto produdive
rerources; brdget spe[t on agri-re5earch, agri-
extension, idgation, trninlng, te(h n0logy, (redltt
female-headed h0ureholds, orrural wom€n, with
.legal title to agri(0lture landr.
It also aims to ralre the perrentage of priblic
budg€t allocation for rocial transfer programs
to those {nable t0 feed themrelver; (oyerage
of marglnalized and diradrantaged population
taking parlin so(ial tran5fer programr; per(entage
0f marginalized and dhadvantag€d population
covered bya public nutritidn supplement proqnm;
per(entage of population awareof availablefood and
nuttition prognns; and (oyerage 0f rch00l feed ing
programs.
"Ad€quate food ir not a matterof(haritt but a
legal eltltlement Hunger i5 inconsirt€nt with human
dignity.and human dghts, and nurt be eliminated.
The Stat€ shall provide for afnmework to addrest
and elimlnate hungerin an org.nized manner,"said
Villar.
"0nce e!tabli5hed, the (omm i5sion wlllad as
an additionaleafety netfor people livinq in high-
riskareassin(etheyarethe most vulnerable when
it comer to natural calamities and disasters. Ihe
eruption ofTaalVolcan0 in Batangar last month
thowed that the governmQnt thould always be
prepared to handle mass evacuations and to
provide adequate nouri5hment for the displaced
families until the situation goe! ba.l t0 normal,"
she added.
A(cording toVillar, the propo5ed commission can
wo* handin hand with theenvisioned 0epartmentof
DisarteiResilien(e{DDRl, andeven relielethe lafterof a
h!geworkload and allowittofo&s on otherimportant
disaster re5ponse mechanisms.
The conmission is likewise tatked to ensure
the compatibility of food supply lerponses with
the right to adequate food and internati0nal
Standardg requlating emergen(ie9, as weil as t0
pr0perly irpervise the distribution offood to the
int€nded recipientg.

r\+ttadr PAq€''