GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PIA) -- The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region 12 hosted a special episode of ‘Kapihan sa PIA’ at SM City General Santos in support of the pilot celebration of "Buwan ng GATAS" or Milk Awareness Month in Soccsksargen.
PIA 12 Regional Head Fryan Abkilan lauded the celebration led by the Task Force GATAS as a convergence of initiatives among government agencies in the region that promotes good nutrition and sustainable development in far-flung areas.
Zaldy Boloron, regional technical director for operations of the Department of Agriculture (DA) 12 and Task Force GATAS team leader and Nabil Hadji Yassin, OIC provincial director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Sarangani-General Santos Office served as resource speakers of the Kapihan sa PIA on March 14.
The Buwan ng GATAS, which has its regional launch on March 2, was created by virtue of Regional Development Council or RDC Resolution No. 156 assigning March as Milk Awareness Month in Soccsksargen, an acronym for South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.
Boloron said the region was "the first in the country" to celebrate and recognize the importance of milk being the centerpiece of the Milk Awareness Month celebration to help address malnutrition among pregnant women and malnourished children in the area.
"GATAS does not only mean the production of milk, but more so, stands for Government Action Towards Transformation in Agriculture for Sustainability, which aims to address the problems of poverty, malnutrition, and peace and order," he said.
According to him, they will be bringing the convergence program to the barangays identified as beneficiaries under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), citing that those issues are usually found in these areas. To date, “we have 62 ELCAC-identified barangays in Region XII.”
Boloron said that based on data, the region has been plagued by those three problems that the task force hopes to address with its creation.
Task Force GATAS is composed of multi-sectoral agencies of DA, DOST, TESDA, National Dairy Authority, Philippine Carabao Center, Philippine Coconut Authority through its Carabao Coconut-Based Enterprise, DSWD, DepEd, National Nutrition Council, to include the Daycare Centers, among other agencies and stakeholders.
Spearheaded by the DA 12, the Buwan ng Gatas celebration is also geared towards achieving the goals of Republic Act 11037, otherwise known as "Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino.”
The law was established to address hunger and malnutrition/undernutrition among Filipino children ages 3 and above through the implementation of a national feeding program.
Boloron also stressed that because the region has little supply of milk, it really has to boost its production through the efficient convergence of Task Force GATAS member agencies.
The official said that almost 99% of milk supply in the country is imported from other countries, expressing the hope that with the intervention of the task force they will be able to increase the production of milk in Region 12 even by at least 7%.
"Soccsksargen has 40% malnutrition rate," he said.
To address this, Boloron added, it has become the government's pursuit through the task force to promote and encourage the increased production of healthy foods through backyard gardening, gulayan sa paaralan, livestock (carabao, cow, goat) raising for milk supply, planting of other crops, among other programs espoused by task force member agencies.
According to him, these strategies do not only solve malnutrition, but also poverty in the communities as income increases would also mean improved peace and order condition in identified areas.
