3 Cordillera towns vie for national nutrition award, Bontoc assessed
Text and photos by: Rimaliza A. Opina
BONTOC, Mountain Province – This town, along with Lamut, Ifugao and Sablan, Benguet have been shortlisted as potential representatives of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the prestigious 2025 National Nutrition Award as announced by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) during the assessment of Bontoc last 18 August 2025.
Sablan was assessed on 9 August, while Bontoc and Lamut were assessed simultaneously on 18 August 2025.
The regional awardee will be announced in October by the NNC, and the national awardee will be announced in December during awarding ceremonies to be held in Metro Manila.
All three towns are consistent Green Banner Seal of Compliance recipients. The Green Banner is a recognition given by the NNC to local government units that have implemented effective nutrition programs in their community.
Through an assessment tool called Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation (MELLPI PRO), contenders are given scores based on six dimensions: mission and vision; nutrition policies; governance; local nutrition committee management; nutrition services; and nutrition situation in the LGU.
The assessment team is composed of the NNC, another government agency, and a representative from civil society.
To be a regional Green Banner awardee, an LGU should attain a score of at least 90 percent in the six dimensions.
For the national award, a team from the national office of the NNC will revalidate the score and the LGU should be able to retain a score of 90 percent to qualify for the top award.
A regional awardee has a cash prize of P100,000; a national awardee on its first year also has a P100,000 prize; P200,000 for the second year; and P1 million for the hall of fame where the recipient LGU will be conferred the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition Award.
