THE Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) have issued new guidelines to strengthen the government’s School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) through a joint administrative order.
The order, signed by Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., would ensure that milk from farmers would reach schools on time, meet food safety standards and be properly monitored from procurement to delivery.
The order was signed at the kickoff of the SBFP program in Pulilan, Bulacan, on Thursday.
Angara emphasized that the strengthened guidelines are meant to ensure that every child who needs supplementation receives it without unnecessary delays, at the same time providing greater support to dairy farmers.
Under the new guidelines, DepEd, DA, the National Dairy Authority and the Philippine Carabao Center will follow one unified system for planning, procurement, delivery and monitoring of milk feeding nationwide, replacing previous arrangements where implementation varied across different areas.
It also strengthens quality control by requiring uniform inspection procedures, clearer accountability among agencies and regular monitoring of implementation.
Problems such as delayed deliveries or product quality issues now have standard protocols for immediate action instead of being handled differently in each area.
It would also push to source milk from local dairy farmers and cooperatives.
The move builds on the government’s nutrition program under Republic Act 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act. For 2026, the government allocated P1.848 billion for the milk feeding program under the National Dairy Authority, which provides milk to eligible public school learners nationwide.
