ILOILO – Former Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon and MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) president and chief executive officer Roel Castro led the launch of the Mingo Meals Nutrition Program yesterday morning in San Miguel town.
In an effort initiated by Drilon, MORE Power donated P704,000 to the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, Inc. to fund the provision of Mingo Meals for 88 malnourished children in San Miguel.
Each child will receive P8,000 worth of Mingo Meals over the course of a year to improve their nutritional status, which includes issues like wasting, stunting, obesity, and other forms of malnutrition.
Drilon emphasized the urgency of addressing these nutritional issues early in life.
“If we don’t nourish children properly within the first two years, they become permanently stunted, and the adverse effects are irreversible, so there must be intervention,” he said.
But while the national government should primarily handle the malnutrition problem, Drilon said the vast number of malnourished children and the limited funding for nutritional programs necessitate support from the private sector and non-government organizations.
Drilon expressed his gratitude to MORE Power for their support in tackling this issue.
“Thanks to the efforts of MORE Power, 88 malnourished children here in San Miguel will receive Mingo Meals that can help prevent their stunting. We wholeheartedly support this program and call on the private sector and many businesses to recognize our need to assist our children. Thank you, Mr. Roel Castro of MORE Power for your help,” said Drilon.
Castro shared his satisfaction with being able to help address the malnutrition problems of children in San Miguel, expressing a hope to see them become professionals and find stable jobs to support their families in the future.
He highlighted the critical development stage from zero to three years old.
“If a child’s body and brain don’t develop properly in the first three years, it becomes much harder to catch up later,” said Castro.
The launching event was also attended by Sa n Miguel’s Mayor Marina Luz Gorriceta; Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) chief Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon; IPHO Officer 1 Dr. Wendel Marcelo; and the head of the Municipal Health Office (MHO) of San Miguel, Dr. Mary Jane Gimeno./PN
