8 March 2022, Cagayan de Oro City – The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Opol, Misamis Oriental, with the support of the municipal office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), organized the Barangay Nutrition Action Plan (BNAP) Formulation and Workshop on 3-4 March 2022 at Country Village Hotel, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City.

Sangguniang Barangay members, Barangay Secretaries and Barangay Nutrition Scholars of all 14 barangays attended the activity.

The workshop was held to capacitate the barangays and provide guidance on identifying priority programs, projects and activities on nutrition and health for better nutrition outcomes. This was facilitated by LGU Opol, National Nutrition Council (NNC) X, and Department of Health Center for Health Development-Northern Mindanao (DOH CHD-NM). LGU facilitators were Nutrition Action Officer Elensita V. Piit, Nutritionist-Dietitian (ND) Kate Marie Perales, and Ms. Cecil Roxas; NNC X Nutrition Officers Sheena Marie G. Talle and Vazamija Therese A. Villasi; ND IV Telesfora G. Madelo and Ms. Pamela Legaria from DOH CHD-NM; DILG Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Consuelo B. Barbaso and ND Angelique Jean Maggay.

The activity was built on the discussion of the rationale of the activity, the roles of the Barangay Nutrition Committee, the imperatives on investing in nutrition, and the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition programs and projects. Important issuances supportive to nutrition were also discussed, as well as the nutrition situation of the municipality.

Hands-on workshop enabled the participants to identify the existing malnutrition problems and its causes in their barangays, and existing PPAs for nutrition. Further, the barangays identified their proposed PPAs with budgets responsive to the pressing malnutrition issues in their areas. The participants used PPAs under the PPAN as primary reference, with emphasis on initiatives responsive to the First 1000 Days.

Towards the end of the two-day workshop, the participants shared their outputs and impressions on the activity, while Dr. Emily Grace Banal, Municipal Health Officer, closed the program.

As part of the re-entry plans of LGUs following the activity, draft BNAPs and budgets will be presented to their BNCs and Barangay Councils. The Municipal Nutrition Office will also continue to lobby the integration of PPAs and the approval of the nutrition plans and budgets for each barangay. NNC X shall continuously provide capacity building and technical assistance to the LGUs to mobilize them further for better nutrition landscapes in the region. (NO III Sheena Marie G. Talle and NO I Vazamija Therese A. Villasi)