It is criminal negligence to allow the feeding of spoiled milk or nutribuns to schoolchildren, members of the Young Guns bloc in the House of Representatives said Wednesday.
This may be the crime committed by education officials who permitted the delivery of expired milk or bread to public schools last year during the time of Vice President Sara Duterte as education secretary, Representatives Jay Khonghun of Zambales and La Union Paolo Ortega V said Wednesday.
They said the “principal” may be as guilty as her underlings under the principle of command responsibility.
Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rizaldy Co, who is House Committee on Appropriations chairman, said those responsible for the irregularities reported by the Commission on Audit (COA) in the implementation of the P5.7 billion school-based feeding program of the Department of Education (DepEd) last year should be made to account for their misdeeds.
“Kawawa ‘yung mga bata sa ating public schools na intended beneficiaries. Sana di sila nakainom ng sirang gatas or nakakain ng bulok na tinapay, pero baka nagutom sila,” he said.
Co supported calls for his colleagues for an investigation of the mess to ensure that it is not repeated.
Ortega said the school-based feeding program aims to help schoolchildren get proper nutrition, especially when they are in school.
“Eh kung sıra ang gatas at nutribun o tinapay na dineliver, anong kinain ng mga bata? Wala. Kung ako ang magulang ng mga apektadong bata, magagalit ako,” he said.
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