Last 5 August 2020, the National Nutrition Council-Region III (NNC-Region III) facilitated an online policy review of the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) of Central Luzon Resolution No. 1 s. 2014: Adopting the National Policy on Nutrition Management in Emergencies and Disasters. The policy review was done through a Focus Group Review with selected Barangay Nutrition Scholars and members of the City and Barangay Nutrition Committees of Meycauayan City, Bulacan via a teleconferencing platform.

Meycauayan City was among the 14 cities in Central Luzon chosen to be part of the policy review as the city, along with Olongapo City, was among those which conducted localized Training on Nutrition in Emergencies after attending the NNC-Region III led training in 2018.

The policy review is a yearly undertaking of the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) and is aimed at assessing the resolutions issued by the RNC in the past five years to a) determine whether the objectives were attained; b) document learnings gained; and 3) provide recommendations on the challenges and issues encountered during implementation.

The policy review revealed that BNSs were actively involved during times of emergencies and disasters as they are considered as valuable human resource on the ground in providing emergency response on top of their mandated functions of taking the weight and height or length measurement of the children, giving nutrition counseling and providing seeds and seedlings, among others.

Questions asked during the FGD were translated to Filipino for easier understanding. But some questions appear to be difficult to answer such as those pertaining to organization of the local nutrition cluster, presence of Executive Order or local ordinance and orientation among BNC members on the NNC Governing Board on Nutrition in Emergencies and availability of Nutrition in Emergencies plan. But when asked on their recollection about disasters or emergencies experienced in their barangay from 2013 to 2016, most of the participants narrated how they responded, including their challenges and participation in the submission of reports.

One particular BNS shared that before the Barangay Nutrition Cluster (BNC) was established in their respective barangay, several cases of miscommunications and inconveniences were met by the Barangay Chairman and their team in implementing nutrition-related programs. But since the BNC was organized, meetings were held frequently, directives were effectively discussed and disseminated, planning programs and events became organized, detailed, and properly documented.

Before the session ended, a few BNSs also shared tips and recommendations to the other participants on how to effectively organize their corresponding BNCs such as establishing an open communication with the BNC members for an effective good working relationship within the team, always have the barangay nutrition data ready and prepared for easy implementation of programs, “wag mahihiyang magtanong” (do not shy away from asking questions) as asking questions is a sign of eagerness to learn.

The presence of Mr. Arsenio Sangalang, the City Nutrition Action Officer of Meycauayan City , Bulacan provided encouragement to BNSs and members of the CNC and BNC to share their knowledge and opinions on the topic.

The conduct of the policy review among BNSs and members of the BNC came about as a result of the FGD among members of the Regional Technical Working Group composed of the Civil Service Commission, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Office of the Civil Defense, Presidents of the Central Luzon Associaiton of Nutrition Action Officers and Central Luzon Association of Barangay Nutrition Scholars, Inc. on 19 June 2019, in observance of the National Disaster Resilience Month.

Among the suggestions generated from the 2019 policy review were: 1) consider revision of the resolution to include regional perspective; 2) cite provinces that are frequented by calamities and disasters; 3) the resolution should have also included a monitoring and evaluation tool to determine adoption or implementation by the LGUs; 4) suggest to harmonize activities among national, regional and LGUs, particularly along inclusion of budget Inclusion in the module for LCEs the formulation of ordinances or resolutions, a waterloo at the local level, and 5) conduct key informants interviews and focus group discussion to further enhance the policy review.

Author:

NO I Antonette Gail D. Garcia

NPC Ana Maria B. Rosaldo