President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has created an Anti-Hunger Task Force headed by Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to speed up the implementation of the government’s hunger mitigation program (HMP).

In a National Nutrition Council (NNC) Board Meeting held last Friday in Malacanang, the President said she wants the HMP to be accelerated and turned into a six-month program with Duque overseeing its implementation.

Among the tasks Duque has to fast-track and improve on are the existing components of the HMP, including the food-for-school program (FSP), the food-for-work program and various feeding programs of the non-government and religious organizations.  Under the FSP, rice and other foodstuffs like noodles and vegetable packs are given to school children as an incentive for attending school. The food-for-work program, on the other hand, involves the hiring of poor and unemployed individuals to render community services like street sweeping in exchange for a stipend with which they can use to purchase foodstuffs.