CONGRESS has allocated up to P17 billion for school- and community-based feeding programs for 2025, Quezon City 4th District Rep. Marvin Rillo said on Sunday.

Rillo, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, said P11.8 billion was for the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) under the Department of Education and P5.2 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development's Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP).

"These feeding programs are a lifeline for children who go to bed hungry. Access to nutritious meals can mean the difference between staying in school or dropping out for many of these children," he said in a statement.

"We are counting on the feeding programs not only to ease child hunger and malnutrition but also to keep vulnerable learners in school," he said.

"These are critical investments in the health, development and education of our nation's children. They not only nourish young minds and bodies but also help lift families out of the cycle of poverty," he said.

The SBFP provides nutritious food for incoming kindergarten to grade six learners "who are classified as wasted, severely wasted, stunted, or severely stunted."