A mother and daughter tandem from the City of San Fernando were crowned as champions in the CAR and Region 1 ‘Pinggang Pinoy: Pina-Sweet Sarap’ online on-the-spot cooking contest, sponsored by Papa Banana Catsup last June 9.

As first placers, grade six student Rhinzaye Erixille dela Cruz from Cadaclan Elementary School and her mother Ruby received a cash prize of PhP 20,000 while Php 5,000 was given to the school. Aside from the monetary prize, they also received medals, certificates, and Papa Banana Catsup gift packs.

For their winning recipe, the tandem cooked veggie chicken balls and quail eggs with banana catsup. These were also mixed with ingredients such as malunggay leaves, squash, carrots, and bell pepper.

The tandem prioritized coming up with nutritious food for kids in line with the advocacy of DOH through ‘Pinggang Pinoy’ to promote the importance of healthy eating habits in schools nationwide.

‘Pinggang Pinoy’ is a new, easy to understand food guide that uses a familiar food plate model to convey the right food group proportions on a per-meal basis, so Filipinos could achieve the needed nutrient and energy by their bodies. This serves as a tool to help Filipinos adopt healthy eating habits at meal times by delivering effective dietary and healthy lifestyle messages.

According to Mr. Arnold Navarrete, teacher from Cadaclan Elementary School and coach of the mother-daughter tandem, there were 23 participants in the contest which included schools from CAR and Ilocos Region.

This initiative was a comprehensive school program of Papa Banana Catsup in partnership with Marylindbert International and Department of Education to promote to students and teachers the importance of eating healthy and maintaining good nutrition.

The city is proud of Rhinzaye and her mother Ruby! We hope our kakabsat would be inspired by your creativity and your drive to cook nutritious food.

Being healthy in this time of pandemic is very important so we encourage everyone to have a well-balanced diet, just like what ‘Pinggang Pinoy’ is advocating. Let us all be proactive in taking care of our health so we could be productive citizens of the city. #SanFernandoTayo

Photo courtesy: Arnold Navarrete