SENATE President and Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) Commissioner Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian addressed the National Nutrition Council (NNC) during Friday's Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the agency's proposed 2027 budget, pointing to a widening gap between the NNC's targets in the National Expenditure Plan (NEP) of 2027, amidst the rising prevalence of stunting.

Citing EDCOM 2 data, Gatchalian pressed the NNC to reconcile its targets with the country’s ongoing challenge in confronting stunting. "Dito kasi sa performance information nakasulat dito 96% of our LGUs hit a score of 85% pagdating sa Seal of Quality Nutrition Program. But obviously, kung meron tayong dalawang milyong batang malnourished, 'yung LGUs natin are not also pushing themselves to reach a better score, no? So I urge you to look at this," he said. "I think we need to be realistic."

Under the NEP, NNC set a target of just 20% of LGUs meeting the minimum score under the Seal of Quality Nutrition Program — a bar the agency already reports clearing nearly five times over, with 96.16%compliance, even as national stunting prevalence continues to climb.

This builds on a recent commentary by EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee, who argued that government targets must be anchored to the problems the state actually recognizes and resources — not to indicators that let agencies claim success on paper even as the condition of Filipino children keeps worsening. "This presents a conflicting picture: of an agency seemingly overachieving their original target, while in reality, stunting is worsening," Yee said.

The issue follows the June 2025 release of the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) survey, which recorded under-five stunting at 25.3%, up from 23.6% in 2023 — the first national increase in over a decade.

NNC Executive Director Usec. Albert Domingo did not dispute the criticism, conceding that the current metric measures process rather than outcome. "Pag ganyan po yung indicator, ang unang pumapasok sa akin ay isang malaking input. Ibig sabihin sinusukat natin yung mga plano, 'yung dami ng mga dokumento... Baka dapat ang sinusukat is kung ano 'yung nakikita natin kapag tayo pumupunta, which is output," he said. Both sides agreed that stunting reduction, not documentary compliance, must serve as the primary outcome measure.

Yee's commentary also flagged a deeper data integrity problem: NNC's local monitoring tool, Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus), placed 2025 stunting at roughly 5% — a fivefold gap from DOST-FNRI's scientifically sampled national estimate of 25.3%. "Both systems have value, but a fivefold gap cannot go unexplained — the government must clarify who was counted, who was missed, and which figure actually governs planning and accountability," Yee said, warning that the discrepancy compromises local targeting and resource allocation.

EDCOM 2 has consistently maintained that early childhood stunting causes irreversible cognitive and physical damage, entrenching learning poverty before children ever reach a classroom. "I'm sure you know na pag lumampas ng 4, 5 years old, irreversible na yan," Gatchalian said. "Bago pa lang siya pumasok sa eskwelahan, talo na siya."

Yee cautioned that continued reliance on paper-based compliance will keep national budgets misdirected. "Performance indicators can reward agencies for counting what's convenient rather than for changing the conditions they exist to address," he said. "As a result, budgets may also risk funding the size of programs instead of the true scale of the problem... Changing an indicator does not change the child."