‘Community spirit’ uplifts Filipinos over politics

Filipino brotherly love uplifts the spirit of communities amidst the COVID-19 crisis and over the dark side of its leaders.

For a country like the Philippines where corruption of its leaders is the number one crime of the land and has continued to agonize the people, especially the hardworking taxpayers, we have the spirit of bayanihan (community spirit) in our blood that will see us through such anguish.

From the beginning of this pandemic, we have had weekly sessions with a “mad” President who cannot seem to talk to his people calmly like a father of the nation. He continues to sound angry, furious, while covering up for the lapses or mistakes of his Cabinet, not to mention non-stop cursing and murmuring the public can’t seem to understand. When he is criticized, he makes all the excuses and even begins to blame the past administrations for mismanagement. But the past is the past and he is now the present – so he should use his power to make the “wrong,” right.

When a private citizen takes the initiative to create a community pantry for her neighbors who she observes needs help and possibly who government has not been able to reach with the so-called ayuda (government cash aid) – what is wrong with such act of brotherly love?

Ana Patricia Non is 26 years old. Her community pantry started with a small bamboo cart, then a second kariton (cart) contained fresh vegetables. Both were parked on Maginhawa street in Teachers Village by the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, where a row of restaurants and cafés used to have good business before the pandemic hit. Both carts were manned by members of her household, some friends and other volunteers.

The principle she used to sustain the pantry is “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan” (give what you can, get only what you can need). It worked on a silent scale until media came in and then government started to bash the initiative while the rest of the world was enamored by such act.

How did our government respond to the first community pantry? Ana Patricia Non was forced to stop her operations after the Facebook pages of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) shared posts linking pantries to underground communists.

Parlade compared Non and the rise of the community pantries to the work of “Satan.” He expressed belief that there is nothing to be afraid of when the police officers try to check on those setting up community pantries if the organizers have nothing to hide. “Huwag tayo maniwala dun sa tao, paiyak-iyak pa ‘yung tao, may drama pa. I’m not saying na sinasadya niya ‘yun but… from the little knowledge I know of Ana, kaya niya gawin ‘yun kasi member siya ng isang organization.”

Philippine National Police Chief Debold Sinas directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to investigate the various field units reported to have been engaged in the alleged profiling activities. But Police Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Olay, PNP spokesperson, said that some police unit heads explained that the taking down of personal information of community pantry organizers was for possible “future collaborations” on police community relations activities. He further explained that the PNP chief has been clear that he never gave any directive for profiling or “red-tagging” of community pantries. All these seem to be a ploy to confuse the public about their intentions. When such actions or directives come up, I’m pretty sure it came from someone up there. As the saying goes, “when there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said they shouldn’t discourage such organizers but will have to look into the possible participation of personalities that may have other agendas that may turn projects into some political purposes. Wow! Such a little act of kindness turned into a monstrosity.

Bottomline, our government seems to be way too paranoid. Why not look at the bigger threat in the West Philippine Sea that the President often brushes aside? Aren’t our police, air force, navy and military trained to protect the country from invaders and intruders? Why are you fighting the little ones? Better yet, please define who is the real enemy of this government and get your act together.

On one side, you see many officers continuously bullying the little ones and abusing their powers without being punished. On another side, you have very few men like AFP chief General Cirilito Sobejana, who carries a whiff of optimism and compassion, saying that the military supports the community pantries and that he has in fact ordered the civil-military operations service to provide assistance to them. At long last, we have a good one in the AFP but sadly, his term will end in a jiffy.

We are also blessed with a diligent and fair Justice Secretary, Menardo Guevarra, who always clarifies the law. In this case, he said, pertaining to PNP officers asking Patricia Non to fill out forms, “It is not proper for law enforcement agents to interrogate him unless there is reason to believe that he is violating any law, ordinance, rule or regulation for the good or welfare of the community... Suffice it to say that a person voluntarily doing an act of kindness and compassion toward his neighbor should be left alone.”

I’m also relieved to see other local government officials support the spread of community pantries around the country. I just hope they don’t rely too much on the people’s effort. In the first place, why do the people need to resort to a community pantry?

There are now around 350 community pantries set up as far north as Aparri in Cagayan province and Lagawe in Ifugao and as far south as Zamboanga City and Davao City. These food stations can also be found in the islands of El Nido, Palawan and Boracay. In Quezon City, 70 community pantries have been established and 30 in Pasig City. A few days ago, the concept was also adopted in Timor-Leste.

Truly, great acts of goodness will have a ripple effect around the country and across the globe. This is another variation of “People Power” in the making, sharing our bayanihan spirit with everyone!