WHAT started out as just one community pantry on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City has been replicated in many more areas not only in Metro Manila but also in Western Visayas and elsewhere such as Baguio City, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Iligan City, among others.
This is a teachable moment for those in the public sector. First, that there is a deep reservoir of compassion among our people waiting to be tapped. Second, that kindness can mobilize people more than the language of hate and fear.
When people are putting rice in the empty pots of their neighbors, they are banging those pots as well to call the governmentâs attention to their plight.
With the tenet âMagbigay ayon sa kakahayan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan (Give based on ability, get based on need),â the community pantry phenomenon that is fast growing among the villages and neighborhoods in the country spreads the true Filipino spirit of bayanihan and helps in filling the gaps in government aid in some areas.
Where else do we get tge courage and strength to overcome the challenges brought by the pandemic but from each other? It is âLove thy neighborâ in practice, the classic bayanihan in action. It is an indicator of our peopleâs selflessness, and, sadly, an indictment of their governmentâs many weaknesses in giving help.
This is a way of responding to the urgent call of communities for help. But to survive the pandemic, we need the government to be more precise in its action. Let us be inspired by community pantries. We hope it also inspires the government to act fast.
