The Batang Matatag Campaign, a joint initiative by Erceflora Probiotics and Save the Children Philippines, has announced a significant expansion of its reach and a new partnership with the Manila Water Foundation.

Launched in 2022, the campaign addresses health challenges due to the lack of access to clean water and proper WASH and hygiene facilities. The Batang Matatag campaign invests in gut health and hygiene education for vulnerable communities, and the partnership with the Manila Water Foundation will help increase access to handwashing stations and water pumps in schools and communities across the country.

“Investing in our children’s gut health and hygiene is investing in our future. The Batang Matatag Campaign calls on all of us to play a part in building a healthier, stronger Philippines where every child has the chance to reach their full potential,” said Rica Mae Mateo from Erceflora Probiotics.

Deeply concerned by the rise of childhood mortality due to diarrhea in the Philippines, Erceflora Probiotics and Save the Children Philippines launched the Batang Matatag Campaign to combat this preventable illness. Launched in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2022, the campaign reached over 19,477 individuals in communities and schools, training over 1,000 adolescents in essential life skills, educated 500 residents on child health and nutrition, and achieved a remarkable 100% improvement in health levels within the communities it served.

This year, Batang Matatag expanded its reach this year to the Rizal province in Luzon, completing four hygiene promotion sessions and WASH caravans, and 12 nutrition promotion sessions. The campaign provided 2,500 hygiene kits for students, as well as Brigada Eskwela cleaning kits for 126 schools in Rizal and BARMM.  

Batang Matatag also initiated educating school clinicians and nurses in 68 public schools in Antipolo about the role of probiotics and effective diarrhea management among school children.   

Through this campaign, the communities benefited from newly constructed water pumps and handwashing stations, ultimately benefiting 65,007 individuals in both provinces.      

"We are incredibly proud of Batang Matatag's impact in its first year, and thrilled to expand our reach to Luzon. With the support of our partners and communities, we are committed to continuing this vital work and ensuring that every Filipino child has the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong," Mateo added.  

Families are also empowered to support the campaign. With every purchase of Erceflora Probiotics, a portion of the sale will be donated to the #BatangMatatag Campaign to help build more WASH facilities and create more hygiene education programs for vulnerable communities and partner schools in the country. 

Erceflora is available in the nearest drug store or pharmacy, or online through the Sanofi Official Store. For more information, visit the Erceflora website here. 

Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines, whose portfolio has been trusted for its superior health care, home care, beauty, grooming and hygiene products, partners with Manila Water Foundation (MWF) to promote proper handwashing with soap to students with the turnover of SafeWash handwashing facilities to 285 schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Rizal.

These include 10-faucet foot-pedal-operated hygiene facilities and the distribution of hygiene supplies to enable the safe return of more than 770,000 students, teachers, and staff to in-person classes in NCR and Rizal. All facilities have been turned over to beneficiaries, just in time for the return of face-to-face classes on November 2, 2022.

“Ito pong pagtatayo ng handwashing facility na programa ng Procter & Gamble Philippines at Manila Water Foundation ay patunay na sa lahat ng pagkakataon ang local government at national agencies, lahat ng stakeholders ay nagbibigay ng paglalaan ng panahon at konsiderasyon kung pano mapapaigting at mapapabuti pa ang ating edukasyon,” shares Mr. Wilfredo E. Cabral, Regional Director of Department of Education (DepEd) NCR.

As face-to-face classes resume, the need to enable the health and safety of pupils and teachers becomes more crucial. Aside from constructing handwashing facilities and provision of hygiene products, P&G also provided info-education materials and conducted hygiene education sessions to ensure deeper stewardship of the donated facilities and raise awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap and clean water to prevent COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.

“Even once we successfully contain COVID-19, we hope that handwashing becomes a habit, one that the students will take on to their adult life. We must remember that aside from COVID-19, handwashing is also critical to prevent the spread of other diseases, such as the common cough and colds, diarrheal diseases, and parasitic diseases,” shares Dr. Crystle Cotingting, the Medical Officer III of the Health Promotion Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH).

#SafeWASH in Schools

(Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano during one of SafeWash’s turnover in Taguig City)

The #SafeWASH in Schools is a collaborative project between P&G through its flagship brand Safeguard and MWF. It aims to promote proper hygiene and sanitation practices among school children, teachers and staff through effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects.

The project supports the WASH in Schools (WinS) program of DepEd and the BIDA Kid campaign of DOH. The program further strengthens health and safety protocols in schools for the ongoing expansion of in-person classes.