A total of 11,787 daycare centers in the three Visayan regions will serve as feeding centers for children aged 2 to 4 receiving hot meals from the government, a social welfare official said Thursday.

Shalaine Marie Lucero, regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7), said this number covers 353 local government units, targeting 405,051 children across Central, Western, and Eastern Visayas.

Lucero said 37.19 percent of the number of daycare children who will benefit from the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the DSWD comes from Central Visayas at 150,637.

“The program helps combat hunger by providing food to children ages 2 to 4 enrolled in child development centers or supervised neighborhood play for 120 feeding days,” Lucero told the Philippine News Agency.

Most of the beneficiaries in the Visayas cluster of SFP Cycle 4 are from Western Visayas with 193,922 or 47.8 percent while Eastern Visayas has 60,492 or 14.9 percent.

With the establishment of the Negros Island Region and the transition underway, an anticipated 121,582 children will also benefit from the program, covering those from Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor provinces.

The SFP is DSWD’s contribution to the early childhood care and development program of the government, implemented through Republic Act No. 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act. (PNA)