COMMUNITY pantries are bayanihan in action and in spirit. Leave them be. Leave them alone. They are not violating any laws.
Their bayanihan is an expression of the sovereign will of the Filipino people. The organizers of and donors to community pantries are civic-minded, charitable, good Samaritans.
We should actually encourage more people to do the same, when the government could not. Public service quite often begins with grassroots community action toward common causes.
Do not demonize, red-tag, ridicule, nor bash community pantries, their organizers and donors. They are doing public service.
One major problem that has surfaced now in relation to the community pantries is the abuse and misuse of the community quarantine rules by the police and other law enforcers, including some local government unit enforcers. They should not brand community pantry organizers and donors as quarantine offenders. Arresting them or investigating them with the specter of criminal charges and ordinance violations is unwarranted and unjust. Filing c riminal charges like disobedience of persons in authority or agents of persons in authority is overzealous or abusive enforcement of quarantine rules.
Keeping orderliness and peace is enough. Reminding people to follow the protocols is enough. Threatening to file or filing criminal charges are an overkill and would result to overburdening Department of Justice prosecutors with frivolous charges and caseload to congest their already congested case dockets.
Based on kindness and kinship, community pantries should draw official support, not government suspicion. A public official, if he is true to his oath, must instead shower these bayanihan projects with support as these are perfectly aligned with what the government is doing to help Filipinos cope with the pandemic.
Let us help and support these pantries instead of asking the people to stay away from these. In times when food is scarce and aid is sporadic, it is the worst kind of “social distancing advice” that could come from the government.
