By Rod Lagusad
A crowd of people hoping to get free food visited the community pantry at Maginhawa Street, Quezon City on Sunday (April 18) morning, even amid the implementation of modified enhanced community quarantine in the city and the rest of the Greater Manila area.
A long queue formed in front of the pantry, prompting a resident of the area to express their concern that the incident could be a superspreader of COVID-19.
Personnel of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 9 -Anonas Police Station implemented physical distancing at the area.
Zena Bernardo, mother of Ana Patricia Non, the person who started the community pantry, said they are aware of the concerns.
“I do understand the concerns, kami rin [we are also] very much concerned about [it]. Alam namin pandemic ngayon [We know we are in the middle of a pandemic], we don’t want to get sick,” Bernardo said.
“We don’t want any of our loved ones to get sick. We don’t want these people to get sick. Kaya malaking tulong sa amin [It’s a big help to us] that the barangay and the LGU [local government unit], the Office of the Mayor is helping us, pero ‘yun nga [but there it is], there are things we can’t control, ‘yung maaga silang lalabas [that they come out early],” she explained.
Bernardo added that if there are other people who are capable and willing to organize community pantries along Maginhawa Street, overcrowding would be avoided.
Narlita Huesca, 66, from Cubao, is one of the people who went to the pantry after finding out that they could get free food there.
“Maraming salamat po sa bumuo [ng] programang ito, nagmamalasakit na magkaroon ng ganitong programa na makatulong sa mahirap kagaya namin [Many thanks to the people who put up this program, who are taking pains to set up a program like this that helps poor people like us],” she said.
Among the goods being distributed are rice, vegetables, canned goods, noodles, bread, and medicine.
Non posted on Facebook last Tuesday about her food-sharing initiative – a bamboo cart containing donated basic food items and commodities such as soap and face masks, that anyone may take from as they need.
“‘Wag mahiyang kumuha, andun lang po iyun,” she wrote. [Don’t be embarrassed to take (what you need), they’re right there.]
Among the goods on her cart was a handwritten sign reading, “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan [give what you can and take what you need].” This has now become the slogan of other community pantries being set up around the metro,
Meanwhile, donations are continuously arriving from those who want to help the effort.
Shara Tan, one of the donors, explained that when they saw a post online about this initiative, she and her friends decided to pitch in and buy groceries for them to donate.
“Ine-encourage namin ‘yung mga tao na mag-help pa, kasi maraming tao[ng] nangangailangan, and tayo-tayo lang din naman ang magtutulungan [We encourage other to help, because so many people need help], so might as well let’s just help each other,” she said.
Other people have been inspired by the example of Maginhawa Community Pantry to organize their own community pantries. Among them are the ones newly set up at P. Noval Street, Sampaloc, Intramuros, Manila, and Muntinlupa City.
Toots Vergara and his wife organized the community pantry at P. Noval St., after being inspired by Maginhawa.
“Nagkaroon lang ng pagkakataon siguro, nagkaroon ng venue para makatulong rin ‘yung ibang tao [We had the opportunity, I guess, we had the venue to help other people],” he said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque praised the community pantries in the country.
“The emergence of community pantries is laudable. It exemplifies the Filipino bayanihan spirit during this challenging time of COVID-19,” Roque said in a statement.
He said everyone’s support and cooperation is crucial to defeating COVID-19. – jlo