Alexis Romero of the Philippine Star reported on April 22, 2021: Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesman, has admitted that the task force is "checking" the situation in areas where community pantries are located. He has also likened the Maginhawa community pantry, the first stall to provide free food to the needy, to the apple given by Satan to Eve.
The community pantries are a form of placemaking, which, in the language of planning and urban studies, means creating places for general welfare by tapping community potential. Specifically, the project employs techniques from the ‘lighter, quicker, cheaper’ model in placemaking, which has allowed its exponential replication. As a movement, this can join projects around the world using the same strategy: Simple, low-cost, doable, immediate, tactile, and flexible (Palma, 2021).
It can be understandable when people in authority question the validity of such movements since these actions (putting up community pantries) might communicate the administration’s incapacity to provide for the people. Also, power might be toppled when the masses would rather see the HELP the pantries provide as the more “powerful” ones.
Pablo Sendra and Richard Sennett wrote about politics of the city in “Designing Disorder: Experiments and Disruptions in the City,” “...we cannot talk about freedom without talking about power.” A sense of powerlessness, which comes from the constraints and perils of the country’s pandemic management, has triggered a response, shared by many, therefore creating collective action.
Yet, the Palace mentions that they are not against community pantries as presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said: I will repeat it, itong mga community pantries represent the best of Filipino in the worst of times. Ang general policy natin, we welcome these community pantries.
One of the Department of Education’s core values is Maka-Tao (humane). The students are trained and taught how to do humanitarian acts to develop and embrace this value. This will allow the learners to be holistically developed by enhancing their affective competencies as well. Therefore, it is an innate value of most of us to be humane.
Humanitarianism is at once a broad dedication to and belief in the fundamental value of human life. Though lacking an agreed definition, this central ethics of humanitarianism crosses cultures and history. As a systemic response to crisis, humanitarianism involves addressing the needs of people affected by conflict, natural disaster, epidemic and famine. In these crises, the focus of humanitarianism is, to varying degrees, placed upon basic or immediate needs of assistance and protection, as distinct from (though increasingly linked to) work more directly aimed at development, peace building, rule of law, etc. (phap.org).
There is nothing evil in helping people especially in giving them something to eat. The very long queues where the pantries are located show that there are people who are hungry. If paranoia among our authorities thrives, this mental state can oppress rather than provide for the basic needs of the people.
There were observations shared by a number of netizens, who also noticed that the pantry slogan “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan” is derived from a famous quote of German philosopher and socialist Karl Marx. The slogan then raised red flags among some authorities and “profiled” the organizers leading to the red-tagging to some of the organizers.
Ana Patricia Non, the organizer of the Maginhawa community pantry, posted some screenshots on her Facebook account showing that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has been previously involved in red-tagging controversies, shared posts saying that community pantries are being used for propaganda of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
At present, lawmakers are proposing to disband the NTF-ELCAC. The ripples caused some senators to react when their spokesperson likened the organizers to Satan.
But amidst the analyses and technicalities and red-tagging, people continue to queue. Concepts and analytical debates cannot be eaten. The hungry do not over-analyze.
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