The ANAKALUSUGAN Party-list filed the “Zero Hunger Bill” which aims to eliminate hunger and make affordable healthy food accessible to all Filipinos.
The group said this is in response to President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr.’s policy pronouncements on food security in his State of the Nation Address,
Filed under House Bill No. 2189, the measure presses for the re-examination and calibration of government policies in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It pushes for a whole-of-government approach to eradicate the problem by 2030.
“It is our duty to address, not just hunger incidence but also the lack of healthy food available to all at a fair price point,” Representative Ray Florence Reyes penned in the bill’s explanatory note.
“Freedom from hunger is a fundamental entitlement of every Filipino, but it remains a significant challenge in the country. Hunger is inconsistent with human dignity and rights; thus, it should be eliminated,” he added.
The measure proposes to end hunger within seven and a half years through the creation of the Commission on the Right to Adequate Food, which will be the primary policy-making and coordinating body of all efforts towards addressing hunger and collateral issues. Its main objectives are to guarantee a stable and sustainable food supply for current and future generations, ensure affordable food, secure adequate nutrition, and assure food safety and consumer protection.
Food and nutrition education likewise will be included in the school curriculum. The bill also targets to allocate 50% of primary agricultural lands and 100% in coastal areas for food production to achieve the goal.
“Our geographical landscape gives us an advantage in furthering our vision. We have an equal part of land to farm, and aquatic resources to harvest. It is just a matter of how we make proper use of these resources,” Rep. Reyes stated.
In recognition of pertinent international conventions and treatises which says the right to adequate food is a basic human right, the House of Representatives referred the Reyes’ Zero Hunger Bill to the House Committee on Human Rights.
