By Artchil B. Fernandez
“It’s only a matter of time,” I exclaimed when community pantries started to sprout all over the archipelago. Rightly, few days after the initiative of people in communities to aid each other spread like wildfire, the state intervened as anticipated.
The mushrooming of community pantries did not escape the attention of the Du30 administration (even as it blatantly ignores the presence of China’s naval militias inside the country’s exclusive economic zone). Police approached Ana Patricia Non who started the community pantry movement in 96 Maginhawa St., Quezon City, asking her uncomfortable questions including personal information like her cellphone number. The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) turned on the heat further by red-tagging the whole initiative, accusing community pantries as part of communist propaganda, and insinuating that people behind it have links to the underground movement. Organizers of community pantries in Metro Manila were questioned and profiled by the police.
Other agencies of the state like the DILG also stepped in. Martin Diño, DILG Undersecretary for barangay affairs (who accurately mirrors the level of intellect of the Du30 administration) declared that permits are required to set up a community pantry. Another DILG undersecretary Jonathan Malaya contradicted Diño. Under intense public pressure, Diño later retracted his statement.
Public push back on the administration’s offensive against community pantries was swift and forceful. Social media was on fire with netizens passionately slamming the effort of the government to stamp out the self-help initiative of people in communities to help each other. Filipinos from all walks of life in unison severely condemned and reprimanded public officials for harassing the organizers of community pantries. Strong public backlash forced the administration to retreat and grudgingly acknowledge the Bayanihan spirit behind the community action.
The reaction of the Du30 administration to community pantries illustrates in clear and unequivocal terms everything that is wrong with it, especially its handling of the pandemic. Du30 and his officials have no idea how to deal with the pandemic and they are becoming increasingly paranoid as their incompetence and ineptness are exposed. Their priorities are wrong and managing the pandemic is not among them.
While the pandemic is the most serious problem of the nation at present, Du30 and his officials on the other hand consider the communist insurgency and illegal drugs as the most existential threats. They see red everywhere even as hundreds of Filipinos die daily from the COVID-19 and 10,000 more on average are infected with the virus.
This explains why instead of looking at community pantries as people’s way of surviving the pandemic, Du30 and his officials see the communist crimson rising on the horizon. They confuse the community pantry (cp) with the communist party (CP). Can’t C also stand for charity? People perish daily, either from the virus or from hunger and all that the Du30 administration sees is the communist red tide.
Beyond seeing red, why is the Du30 administration so vexed and upset with the mushrooming of community pantries? Why is the administration irritated with the existence of this initiative from below and attempted to discredit it by connecting it with the communists? Is it because the slogan of community pantry (Give what you can, take what you need) echoes Marx’s dictum “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs?” Is this the cause of the administration’s hysterical reaction?
The Du30 administration is terribly displeased and annoyed by the sprouting of community pantries all over the country for they expose its incompetence, laziness and lack of action not only to manage the pandemic and its impact but its inability to provide Filipinos with their needs in these trying times. Du30’s colossal failure to deal with the pandemic created a leadership vacuum and people in communities are left alone to take care of themselves.
For Dionisio, et.al, (2021) in a paper posted at the website of Philippine Sociological Society, the phenomenon of community pantry is an indictment of the Du30 administration’s lousy response to the pandemic. “The establishment of community pantries may thus be considered a gauge for a solidifying public opinion on the inadequacy of government response to the pandemic on two fronts: 1) providing economic subsidy and aid for those greatly affected by the lockdown 2) and the lack of an appropriate and comprehensive health response to the pandemic. These community pantries resonate with the public’s dire needs and brewing discontent in the context of a worsening economic and health care situation.”
In short, community pantry is community action against the Du30 administration’s inaction. It is collective action versus leadership inaction. Du30 is literally sleeping on his job. He for example played hide-and-seek and intentionally hid when a serious surge of pandemic struck the National Capital Region (NCR) and surrounding areas last month. As hospitals hit full capacity and people are dying in makeshift tents and in their cars on hospital grounds, Du30 disappeared. Du30’s absence highlighted his administration’s gross inaction and unforgivable negligence of its responsibility. The disappearing act of Du30 made Filipinos realize they are now on their own as the pandemic runs wild.
It is not incidental that community pantries appeared on the scene while Du30 was napping. Left to fend for themselves, Filipinos in their communities started aiding and helping each other. The community pantry is Filipino Bayanihan spirit at its finest.
While the community pantry showcases the best in Filipinos, it unmasks the worst in Du30 and his officials, particularly their despicable inaction.
