Press Release
April 16, 2009

ROXAS SEEKS SENATE INQUIRY INTO OVERPRICED NOODLES
MONEY STOLEN FROM THE MOUTH OF OUR CHILDREN, SOLON FUMES

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today called for an inquiry into the alleged overpricing of instant noodles bought by the Department of Education for its Food for School program intended to provide nutritional supplement to pre-school and grade one students nationwide.

"Kaya inaprubahan ng Kongreso ang pondong ito ay dahil mahalaga ang kalusugan ng ating mga estudyante. Kung gagamitin lang ito sa korapsyon, bale-wala din ang programang ito. Isusubo na lang ng ating mga anak ay nanakawin pa (Congress approved funds for the program because we needed to provided our students better nutrition. If corruption has also scourged this program, then it is useless. They are stealing from the mouth of our own children)," said Roxas, chairman of the Senate education committee.

In Senate Resolution No. 985, Roxas asked the Upper Chamber to authorize his Senate education committee to conduct an investigation into the allegation that instant noodles bought under the DepEd program were overpriced by as much as 100 percent. Tests conducted on the noodle packs also allegedly showed it had zero nutritional value and did not contain any "fresh egg" as advertised in its package.

Under the P284-million Food for School Program, the DepEd distributed last year 15 million packs of 100-gram instant noodles to about 800,000 pre-school and grade one elementary students nationwide last year. The DepEd bought the noodles for P18 per pack, raising suspicions of overpricing as ordinary noodle packs cost between P6 to P8 a piece only.

Roxas said there is need to look into the allegations since Congress has authorized DepEd a P427-million budget for the Food for School Program this year. The department plans to purchase again another 19 million packs of noodles allegedly from the same company that supplied the overpriced noodles last year.

"It is imperative for the government to promote and protect the welfare of our youth by creating programs and projects which are responsive to their needs and prioritize their interest in every decision they make," Roxas stressed.

He reminded education officials not to veer away from the real purpose of its Food for School program, which is to mitigate hunger among school children and their families in priority provinces and improve the student's school performance and attendance, Studies have show that undernourishment hinders the active participation of a pupil from classroom activities and has been one of the major causes of the high drop out rate among students.

"Kaya ito inaprubahan ng Kongreso ay dahil gusto nating maging malusog ang ating mga estudyante. Mukhang ang lumulusog lang dito ay ang mga pitaka ng mga corrupt na opisyal at negosyante (Congress approved this program because we wanted to provide our students with nutritional supplement. It seems that the ones being supplemented are the pockets of corrupt officials and businessmen)," he said.

Senate Resolution No. 985 also seeks to look into DepEd's procurement of food, medicines, textbooks, equipment and other similar items relevant to the implementation of its various programs "to ensure transparency in its procurement process and protect the welfare of our students and our people."

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