No dairy funds coursed thru Assisi foundation

A report written by Gil C. Cabacungan and titled “COA questions P230-M DAP milk fund,” was published in the Aug. 18 issue of the Inquirer.

This is to clarify the role of the Assisi Development Foundation (ADF) in the Hapag-Asa Integrated Nutrition Program. For the record, the ADF did not receive, hold, or manage any funds for the implementation of the program.

The ADF’s only role was to coordinate the identification and validation of malnourished children in different dioceses and municipalities, who would have been the beneficiaries of the milk-feeding program. The ADF provides the social preparation work at the community level, i.e., identifying the malnourished and weighing the children, among other tasks.

If beneficiaries are thus validated, the process would have been as follows:

1. The National Dairy Authority pays the dairy cooperative for producing and packaging milk.

2. The cooperative delivers the milk to the diocese or municipality.

3.  The diocese or municipality then takes charge of ensuring that beneficiaries receive the milk.

A careful reading of the Commission on Audit report, particularly Annexes A and B, would also reveal that there has been no disbursement of funds to the Hapag-Asa Integrated Nutrition Program of the ADF.

—GRACE J. CENAS, administrator,

National Dairy Authority,

NDA Bldg., BAI Cmpd., Visayas Avenue,

Diliman, Quezon City