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Directors Bio 3471 2756

AZUCENA MILANA-DAYANGHIRANG, MD, MCH, CESO III
ASSISTANT SECRETARY and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL

Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang is an experienced public health leader. For the past 29 years, she has been a facilitator and a trainer for various health programs particularly on Maternal Child Health and Nutrition. She has served the people of Davao as City Nutrition Action Officer from 1991-1995; Chief of the Technical Services Division and Medical Officer VI of Davao City Health Office from 1996 to 2005; as well as the Provincial Health Officer II and Provincial Nutrition Action Officer of Davao del Sur from 2008 to 2016.

During her stint in the local government, she led the City Nutrition Committee in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health and nutrition programs. She initiated the “Fresh Milk Supplemental Feeding Program,” which led to the reduction of protein-energy malnutrition among 0-6-year-old children. She also successfully lobbied for the regularization of 32 Nutritionist-Dietitians deployed in the 16 Districts of Davao City in 1996.

In 2016, she was elected as the National President of the Nutrition Action Officers' Association of the Philippines (NAOPA), Inc. Shortly after, she was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council (NNC), an attached agency of the Department of Health, Philippines. In August 2019, Dr. Dayanghirang was appointed as the Executive Director of the NNC. Currently, she is designated as the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Philippines Government Focal Point and most recently, appointed as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement representing Asia and Papua New Guinea.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the appointment of Dr. Dayanghirang to Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) Rank III effective 3 December 2020. Recently, she was upgraded to Executive Director IV with the rank of Assistant Secretary as approved by President Duterte through Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on 21 July 2021.

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The European Chamber of the Philippines invited Assistant Secretary Azucena M. Dayanghirang as speaker and panelist during the hybrid advocacy event entitled Building a Healthier Philippines : Strengthening Partnership and Policies for Nutrition  on August 31, 2022 held in Ascott Hotel, Makati City.  

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ChildFund Philippines and its local partner organizations gathered for a program learning forum to lay-out and level-off program quality standards as they implement interventions  to address the root causes of deprivation,  exclusion  and vulnerability situations and experiences of children and youth.

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The Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology invited Assistant Secretary Azucena M. Dayanghirang , Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council to its 71st Annual Convention with the theme “ Accelerating Transformations for Sustainable Development Through Science , Technology and Innovation last August 9, 2022.

It was a Virtual Webinar Series , highlighted with the Talks from the distinguished Speakers – Dr. Eufemio Rasco , Jr. , the  chair of Agricultural Sciences Divisions , NAST , who discussed about Impacts of human disruptions to Earth’s natural systems on human health , Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Director of Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture who shared inputs on Improving Security by acceleration of agricultural innovations and capacity -building research and policy   and Dr. Carlos Primero Gundran , project leader of DRRMH-H , DOST NICER-NIH who elaborated on Building Resilience Amidst Climate Change Challenges.

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NNC Assistant Secretary and Executive Director, Azucena M. Dayanghirang was one of the distinguished speakers in the currently concluded NEO- Orientation Course for Local Legislators: Primed Leaders for Renewed Local Governance for all Vice Governors of the Philippines on August 18, 2022 at the Manila Hotel.

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The Food Fortification Law (RA 8976) and the NNC GB Resolution No. 1, S. 2019 provide for different agencies and organizations to undertake various actions to implement and scale up the rice fortification program. On 4 May 2022, Assistant Secretary and Executive Director Dr. Azucena Dayanghirang convened these agencies and organizations, including the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines (NFP), Nutrition International (NI), University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), and World Food Programme (WFP), via Zoom for an initial discussion with the National Nutrition Council (NNC) on the implementation of the rice fortification program.

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August 16-18, 2022 , Assistant Secretary Azucena M. Dayanghirang , Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council delivered her Opening  Remarks during the Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) Orientation and Planning Workshop at Joy-Nostalg Hotel & Suites, Pasig Manila.

Said event was an avenue to further scale-up nutrition in the Philippines , building efforts to reach out stakeholders across sectors and strengthen the capacity of implementing agencies to facilitate project commitments for 3 Major Components namely :

  • Delivery of Nutrition & Primary Health Services
  • Community -Based Nutrition Service Delivery & Multisectoral Nutrition Convergence
  • Institutional strengthening, monitoring and evaluation

It was also a platform to share the programs , challenges and collaborative solutions , especially on strengthening mutual accountability at all levels from DOH, DSWD, NNC, the LGUs from Central, Regional and LGU levels.