WHEREAS, the Philippines is committed to eradicate all forms of deprivation, including that related to hunger, by pursuing the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

WHEREAS, results of survey on involuntary hunger conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) have shown a relatively high incidence of hunger with see-saw trends, with dips and peaks at certain times of the year, at least from 2006 up to the present;

WHEREAS, the latest quarterly surveys on hunger (1st quarter of 2009) showed that hunger incidence declined dramatically from a record-high of 23.7% (estimated 4.3 million families) in the previous quarter (4th quarter of 2008) to 15.5% (estimated 2.9 million families out of the 86 million Filipino population); while severely hungry (those who experienced hunger often or always in the three months prior to the survey) as compared to the previous quarter declined from 940,000 to 810,000; and moderately hungry (those who experienced hunger only once or a few times during the reference period) from about 3.3 million to 2 million;

WHEREAS, the Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program (AHMP) is the landmark program of the Arroyo Government to address hunger both on the aspect of supply or the unavailability or insufficiency of food to eat and on the aspect of demand or the lack of money to buy food;

WHEREAS, the AHMP is implemented by national government agencies based on the attached hunger-mitigation program framework, in cooperation with local government units (LGUs);

WHEREAS, the national Anti-Hunger Task Force (AHTF) was created by virtue of Executive Order 616 signed on 3 April 2007 and is composed of 29 national government agencies and faith based organizations implementing one or more of the AHMP component programs;

WHEREAS, the Secretary of Health and chair of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) Governing Board was tasked to lead the national AHTF to ensure that hunger-mitigation measures are in place;

WHEREAS, each Department Secretary/Head of the identified national government agencies has been designated anti-hunger focal person to be primarily responsible for the implementation of the agency’s hunger mitigation interventions;

WHEREAS, the DOH-NNC was designated as oversight agency of the AHMP; WHEREAS, the initiatives of national government agencies should be complemented by similar efforts of LGUs;

WHEREAS, these initiatives should be coordinated and rationalized especially at the local level;

WHEREAS, the creation of a task force at the regional and provincial levels, as counterpart of the national task force, will facilitate the implementation of the AHMP at the local level;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law do hereby order the following:

SECTION 1. Creation of Regional and Provincial Task Forces The Regional/Provincial Anti-Hunger Task Force (R/ PAHTF) shall be created in provinces covered by the AHMP to facilitate coordination, complementation and convergence of services and resources, and to widen the reach of the program among the poor and hungry households in the identified priority areas of the country.

SECTION 2. Composition

2.1 Regional Level

The Task Force shall be under the umbrella of the regional nutrition committee (RNC) and shall be composed of the following:

2.1.1 Department of Agriculture (DA)

2.1.1.1 Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA)
2.1.1.2 Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)
2.1.1.3 National Food Authority (NFA)
2.1.1.4 National Irrigation Administration (NIA)

2.1.2 Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
2.1.3 Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
2.1.4 Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
2.1.5 Department of Education (DepEd)
2.1.6 Department of Health (DOH)

2.1.6.1 National Nutritional Council
2.1.6.2 Population Commission

2.1.7 Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

2.1.7.1 Philippine National Police (PNP)

2.1.8 Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

2.1.8.1 Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA)

2.1.9 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
2.1.10 Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
2.1.11 Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)

2.1.11.1 Philippine Ports Authority and/or Port-District Office (PPA-DOTC)
2.1.11.2 Philippine Coast Guard

2.1.12 Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
2.1.13 National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
2.1.14 Armed Forces of the Philippines

2.1.14.1 Philippine Navy
2.1.14.2 Philippine Army

2.1.15 Representative of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) Regional Executive Board
2.1.16 Representative of the League of Cities of the Philippines Regional Executive Board
2.1.17 Non-government organizations including faith-based organizations operating in the region
2.1.18 Others, as may be decided on by the RNC

2.2 Provincial level

The Task Force shall be under the umbrella of the provincial nutrition committee (PNC) and shall be composed of the following:

2.2.1 Department/offices of the provincial government

2.2.1.1 Office of the Governor
2.2.1.2 Provincial Planning and Development Office
2.2.1.3 Provincial Nutrition Office/Unit or equivalent
2.2.1.4 Provincial Health Office or equivalent
2.2.1.5 Provincial Population Office or equivalent
2.2.1.6 Provincial Budget Office
2.2.1.7 Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office or equivalent
2.2.1.8 Provincial Agriculture Office
2.2.1.9 Provincial Veterinary Office
2.2.1.10 Local office in charge of livelihood, if available

2.2.2 Representative of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines Provincial Chapter
2.2.3 Representative of the Federation of Liga ng mga Barangay
2.2.4 National agencies with provincial offices

2.2.4.1 DA

2.2.4.1.1 PCA
2.2.4.1.2 BFAR
2.2.4.1.3 NFA
2.2.4.1.4 NIA

2.2.4.2 DAR
2.2.4.3 DENR
2.2.4.4 DepED
2.2.4.5 DOH
2.2.4.6 DILG

2.2.4.6.1 PNP

2.2.4.7 DOLE
2.2.4.8 DPWH
2.2.4.9 DTI
2.2.4.10 PPA
2.2.4.11 PIA
2.2.4.12 TESDA
2.2.4.13 AFP

2.2.5 Non-government organizations especially faith-based organizations operating in the province

2.2.6 Others as may be decided on by the PNC

SECTION 3. Duties/Responsibilities of the Task Force

1. Regional Level

a. The RAHTF shall:

1) Coordinate with the national and provincial AHTF and oversee the implementation of the AHMP
2) Ensure the convergence of services delivered by national government agencies and LGUs
3) Monitor the implementation of the AHMP at the regional and provincial levels through:

a) Review of monthly progress reports on AHMP implementation
b) Regular meetings for an update on program implementation and to discuss and resolve implementation problems
c) Conduct of annual program implementation review to assess accomplishments and gaps
d) Regular project site visits
e) Provision of feedback horizontally (or to regional offices of national government agencies) and vertically (to the national and local levels)

4) Recommend to the national task force policy and program adjustments to improve program efficiency
5) Lead in advocacy for sustainable and region-wide support to the program
6) Provide the public with regular updates on the AHMP
7) Provide technical assistance to PAHTF on program management
8) Coordinate with the Regional Kalahi Convergence Group to allow complementation of the AHMP with other poverty-alleviation efforts in the province and region

b. The regional heads of the member-agencies of the RAHTF shall serve as the anti-hunger focal person of the agency. For the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the Department Secretary of the aforementioned agencies could serve as the anti-hunger focal person.

The anti-hunger focal person of each agency shall:

1) Ensure the smooth implementation of the agency’s hunger-mitigation component program
2) Ensure timely disbursement of funds for the implementation of the agency’s AHMP component programs and facilitate the convergence of resources from among collaborating agencies for efficient service delivery.
3) Ensure the complementation of the agency’s hunger-mitigation component programs with the other components of the AHMP as well as with related initiatives of LGUs
4) Monitor the implementation of the agency’s hunger-mitigation component programs and report to the Department Secretary the progress of implementation, copy furnished the NNC-RO. For the ARMM, reporting could be to the Regional Governor of ARMM, preferably with a copy to counterpart Secretaries at the national level.
5) Conduct annual in-house program implementation reviews
6) Advocate for sustained support for the AHMP component programs
7) Provide the public with correct information on the agency’s hunger-mitigation component programs
8) Provide other assistance as may be needed by the RAHTF

c. The NNC Regional Office shall:

1) Serve as the oversight agency for the implementation of the AHMP at the regional level
2) Organize the RAHTF
3) Monitor the implementation of program components of the AHMP
4) Prepare monthly progress reports for submission to the RAHTF and NNC central office
5) Maintain a data base on the AHMP and ensure its use by the R/ PAHTF for program management;

For ARMM, the Regional Governor could designate the region’s oversight agency that will perform the aforementioned functions to ensure that hunger-mitigation programs are in place and successfully implemented:

2. Provincial Level:

a. The PAHTF shall:

1) Formulate an annual AHMP provincial plan
2) Coordinate and oversee the implementation of the provincial hunger mitigation plan
3) Ensure the convergence of services delivered by national government agencies and LGUs
4) Assist municipal and barangay governments in resource generation for hunger-mitigation programs and projects
5) Monitor the implementation of the AHMP provincial plan through:

a ) Preparation of monthly progress reports on AHMP Plan implementation for submission to the RAHTF through the NNC regional office, and for ARMM, to designated oversight agency
b) Regular meetings to update implementation progress and to discuss and resolve implementation problems
c) Conduct of annual program implementation review to assess accomplishments and gaps
d) Regular project site visits
e) Provision of feedback horizontally (to offices of the provincial government) and vertically (to the national, regional, municipal and barangay levels)

6 ) Lead in advocacy for sustainable support to the program at the provincial level
7) Provide the public with regular updates on the AHMP

b. The governor is hereby encouraged to:

1) Organize and chair the PAHTF
2) Serve as anti-hunger champion and ensure that hunger mitigation programs are integrated in the annual investment plan of the province
3) Lead and supervise the formulation and implementation of the provincial hunger mitigation plan, ensuring that:

a) AHMP component programs are implemented and reached out to areas and families needing more assistance
b) AHMP component programs of the local government and the national government complement one another
c) Implementation issues are identified and corrective actions continuously undertaken
d) The community and target beneficiaries participate in program planning, implementation, and monitoring
e) Poor and severely hungry families whose children are out-of-school be identified and given assistance
f) Good and effective practices are documented and shared with other LGUs
g) Good and effective practices of other LGUs are adapted and replicated

c. The Head of the provincial department or office implementing one or more of the AHMP component program is likewise encouraged:

1) Ensure that hunger-mitigation programs are integrated in the annual investment plan of the respective department or office
2) Ensure the smooth implementation of the department’s or office’s hunger-mitigation component program
3) Ensure timely disbursement of funds for the implementation of the department’s or office’s AHMP component programs
4) Ensure the complementation of the department’s or office’s hunger-mitigation component programs of the province, and national government agencies
5) Monitor the implementation of the department’s or office’s hunger-mitigation component program and report on the progress of implementation to the provincial governor through the designated local focal person or office
6) Advocate for sustained support for the AHMP
7) Provide the public with correct information on the province’s hunger-mitigation component programs
8) Provide other assistance as may be needed by the PAHTF

SECTION 4. Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately after publication in a national newspaper of general circulation.

Adopted: 29 July 2009

(SGD.) GLORIA M. ARROYO
President of the Philippines   

BY THE PRESIDENT:

(SGD.) EDUARDO R. ERMITA
        Executive Secretary