Victorias City kicks off its Nutrition Month Celebration with a parade and opening program at Don Alejandro Acuña Yap Quiña Arts and Cultural Center.
This year’s theme is “New Normal na Nutrisyon, Sama-Samang Gawan ng Solusyon”.
Mayor Javier Miguel L. Benitez congratulated the people working behind the event and expressed how grateful he is to share his first nutrition month message.
“If we want to invest in our future, we should give the premium to health”, he said.
According to Mayor Benitez, investing in our children means helping them to be healthy in a holistic way, both in body and mind, giving them a greater chance of succeeding in life.
He looks forward to eradicating malnutrition in Victorias and achieving a healthier community through prioritizing children’s early nutrition.
“Health is wealth, so let’s start to get wealthy by being healthy.”, he added.
City Health Officer Dr. Richard Garlitos welcomed the City and barangay officials, department heads and employees, Schools Division Office heads and teachers, Barangay Nutrition Scholars, Barangay Health Workers, child development workers, City’s NGO partners, representatives of the different sectors of the City, Kaayong Lawas Foundation Inc. head and staff.
City Nutrition Action Officer and Councilor Francis Frederick D. Palanca officially opened the celebration and shared some of the activities of the City Nutrition Council during the pandemic such as the implementation of controlled feeding programs, giving of food packs, and cash subsidies to affected families with wasted and severely wasted children.
He also added that the celebration aims to campaign for better nutrition and it is important that the government must invest in nutrition programs for the benefit of all Victoriahanons as he expressed his gratitude to the support of the new administration.
Councilors Teresita Sta. Ana-Bartolome and Audie Malaga also shared their nutrition messages during the celebration.
Schools Division Superintendent Portia Mallorca, Ph.D., CESO V; Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Mark Anthony Tan, Ph.D.; School Governance and Operations Chief Ronamie Reliquias, Ph.D.; and Curriculum Implementation Division Chief Leny Nillos, Ph.D.; together with heads, teachers, and personnel of the new DepEd Division were also present.
The launching of the “Adopt A Child Program”, a 90-day feeding program with monitoring for 38 identified malnourished children in Victorias, presentation of beneficiaries, and their sponsors also took place.
The Barangay Nutrition Scholars, Barangay Day Care Workers, and Victorias National High School MAPEH teachers rendered special intermission numbers.
A “Zumba for Health and Wellness” followed, with special prizes given to the most energetic dancers and those wearing the best nutrition attires.