EDITORIAL - Profiling of community pantry organizers

It seems that some policemen still have not been briefed about what they can and cannot do about community pantries.

According to a report in Philstar.com, the organizer of a community pantry in Provident Village in Marikina said he felt harassed and threatened by policemen who showed up at their community pantry last Sunday and started asking for their addresses, contact details, and personal information.

They were also asked if they belonged to any organizations.

When asked what they needed that data for, the policemen said it was for their “official records.”

Later on, as the kitchen was closing, they offered one of the organizers a ride back home.

As a result of feeling threatened, the organizer has decided to stop the community pantry for now.

"I live alone and I'm scared to go back home... I'll take a break until I feel safe. We have to take care of our safety," the organizer was quoted as saying in the same report.

We are sure that many police communities are assisting or even having their own community pantries to help those in need, but it seems that others have yet to appreciate this initiative for what it really is.

Let’s clear this up. There is nothing wrong per se with asking for the address, contact details, and personal information of a community pantry organizers, or even asking what organizations they belong to.

But these days this is information that can be easily passed on to others and then used against those who provided the information. Those who are asked for their address, contact details, personal information, and organization membership cannot help but wonder if that will be used against them to harass or even kill them.

As to the offer for a free ride home, would you really be willing to accept a ride from someone who has treated you like you were breaking the law? Anyone in such a situation would be justified in fearing for his or her life.

To be fair to policemen, we are not getting reports of such activities here. But according to the same report, some community pantry organizers have reported being intimidated and profiled by policemen since the initiatives began.

Just like that over-funded task force that seems to be doing more harm than good, it seems that some policemen still cannot tell who the real enemy is.