The Department of Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad clarified that the food-for-school program will be redesigned and not altogether scrapped, as part of the reallocation proposals resulting from the zero-based budgeting process.

“The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has raised the 2010 deficit level by P31.8 billion, from the original program of P293.2 billion to P325 billion to provide for further growth expansion.  But despite the increase, the DBCC is keen on bringing down the deficit to manageable levels  in the medium term. The DBCC will further study the reduction of the deficit level to 2.0% of GDP by the end of 2013,” Budget and Management Secretary and DBCC Chair Florencio “Butch” Abad said after the DBCC meeting held on July 9, 2010 at the DBM compound in Manila.