Community pantries in the Philippines

A community pantry in Camaligan, Camarines Sur.

Community pantries in the Philippines are food banks established by Filipinos during the country's COVID-19 community quarantine.[1]

On April 14, 2021, local entrepreneur Ana Patricia Non worked with farmers and local vegetable vendors to put up a small food bank for her community on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City,[2] putting up a sign that invited people to "give according to your ability, take according to your need." The initiative caught the attention of Filipinos on social media,[3] creating a "snowball effect", with citizens putting up their own pantries in their communities[4] and inspiring people from other countries do the same.[5]

Initiated without any government support, some of the community pantries and their organizers were initially interrogated and red-tagged by National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy-Partosa as possible sympathizers and recruiters of insurgent left-wing militant organizations.[6][7]

By April 20, 2021, press reports noted that there were already more than a hundred citizen-organized community pantries throughout the Philippines.[8] On April 22, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that there were already at least 350 such pantries throughout the country.[9]

  1. ^ Cabato, Regine (April 21, 2021). "Community pantries offer reprieve from covid-19 hardships in the Philippines". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ Franco, Kimani. "Filipino version of community pantry is bayanihan, sari-sari store and pasalubong rolled into one". Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  3. ^ "What the community pantry movement means for Filipinos". Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  4. ^ "Filipinos share food to survive lockdown". Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  5. ^ "Taking cue from Pinoy bayanihan, community pantry rises in Timor Leste". ABS-CBN News. April 22, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  6. ^ "She set up a community food bank. Philippine authorities called her communist, 'Satan'". South China Morning Post. April 24, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  7. ^ Madarang, Catalina Ricci S. (April 22, 2021). "'Imagine the backfire': Community pantries raise more cash after red-tagging". Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  8. ^ hermesauto (April 20, 2021). "Community pantries sprout across the Philippines amid flailing govt response to Covid-19 pandemic". The Straits Times. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  9. ^ Valenzuela, Nikka G. (April 22, 2021). "Despite 'red-tagging,' community pantries rise to 350, says advocate". Retrieved May 3, 2021.