Noodles and Malunggay for Smarter Filipinos

Can noodles with egg and malunggay could really make one smart? This is what the Department of Education (DepED) officials thought so.

“The DepEd spent P284 M for the procurement of more than 15 million packets of noodles in 2008. . This year, (2009) , they spent P427 M for the 19 million packet of noodles for the underprivileged preschool and grade one pupils in Visayas and Mindanao”.

“…A former government supplier revealed that the noodles distributed to the poor students were overpriced, had zero nutritional values and did not contain any “fresh egg” as stated in the package”.

“A laboratory tests made by experts in Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and South Korea all yielded the same results—that the noodles had no egg content and did not have any nutritional value”

“……Bureau of Food and Drugs Adm. was first approached to do the testing but the agency allegedly informed that they could not test the product since they have not received any complaint on the matter; no one got sick or died from eating the Dep. Ed noodles.

Mr. Teodoro Sangil, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance defended the allegations saying that the noodles was three times more expensive than those sold at the sari-sari store because of its weight (100g/pack) and transportation cost. Visayas and Mindanao are far from where the noodles was manufactured. Aside from that, it is also mixed with “really really fresh” eggs plus malunggay pa, thus it is highly nutritious. He insisted that Dep. Ed officials were present when the fresh eggs were mixed with the noodles.

What I understand when someone says “fresh” is, it is “new , recent” or straight from the source. Probably, when the boring noodles is being prepared, the noodle workers were right there waiting for the eggs to fall from the chicken’s butt. As soon as the eggs were laid, they gently break the eggshell, place the egg into the mixer, pour the flour, grind a bit, then some more, add the malunggay… presto! the Dep Ed noodles is born.

If the weight of the product is a factor that contributes to cost, they should have chosen something that is lightweight such as cotton candy for example,..colorful cotton candy injected with multivitamins, minerals and protein. Or how about sea weeds snacks. I’ve seen children munching dried sea weeds snacks....Very light, just like paper.

If the intention is to remain devoted to the Sangkap Pinoy policy, they shouldn’t have used noodles because it’s a Chinese thing. I recommend listening to the song “Bahay Kubo”; there are a lot of good nutritious veggies to choose from the song. That reminds me, there is no mention of “malunggay” in that Bahay Kubo song. …but never mind, that would be a good subject of another blog in the future..

If the aim of their DepEd feeding program is to come up with smart students, they should have at least conducted a survey first, about what do genius, strong, healthy people eat. I bet nobody among the Nobel price winners and Olympic medalists have eaten noodles in their whole life…or if it may be impossible task to ask those geniuses being that most of them are from other countries, so why not use our local scholars from state universities, from UP and MSU as respondents for example. I’m sure, noodles would be out of the equation.

It’s very disturbing to think that the people manning and running the very sector responsible for education of the whole citizenry can come out with programs and policies that even high school students are capable of doing. See other projects that Dep Ed is busy about: ferrous sulfate (iron supplement for anemia and pregnancy), otoscopes (to examine ears) and of “chrorella” shampoo . These contracts cost the DepEd a total of P728 million in 2008.

Just what has shampoo got to do with education? To make pupil/students experience the “ang gaan- gaan ng hair” feeling-kind-thing? Otoscope?….maybe they have found out that the main reason students got low scores in their tests is, students couldn’t hear what the teachers were teaching, so Dep Ed purchased thousands of otoscope to examine the students ears if there are earwax (tutuli) inside. Noodles? Who in their right frame of mind would think that our children’s energy and intellect could be changed overnight by just one pack of noodles?

I hope I am wrong in my assumptions that some of our government officials and policy makers are not only crooks but possessed two digit IQs . God forbids, no one could get lower than that.

I came from Mindanao, my parents from Visayas..It pains me to think that the only food that our government officials deemed suitable for my little kababayans is these dull yellowish hard tiny string- like thing that comes from China. No matter which angle I look up, there’s is nothing interesting about this food. It’s not even tasty, much less nutritious. Even the packaging, is bland and unexciting. At least, they should have written something on the outside such as fun trivia, little stories, proverbs, etc that may help stir up a child’s interest or just put a smile on a child’s face as they open the package.

If I were a child and my teacher would say, “Class, tomorrow we will give each one of you a pack of noodles for free”. I would not come to school. I would pretend to be sick.