8 senators to PNP, NTF-ELCAC: End ‘red-tagging, harassment’ of pantry organizers

The makeshift pantry in Sampaloc, Manila, as inspired by the one initiated by the Maginhawa community pantry in Quezon City. Screenshot of the Facebook post of Toots Vergara

MANILA, Philippines — Eight senators on Tuesday urged the law enforcement leadership to probe the profiling and red-tagging of community pantry organizers as they called for an end to the “harassment and intimidation” against those involved in such relief efforts.

In a joint statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senators Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan and Grace Poe condemned and called for an end to the red-tagging of organizers of community pantries, which started popping up in various parts of the country.

“The profiling of organizers must stop. It puts people’s lives in danger, knowing how notorious some police, military officers, and personnel are in red-tagging progressives and now civic-minded citizens who only want to do good for their fellow men and women,” the senators said.

“Bakit hindi tanungin ng mga pulis ang kanilang pamilya at kamag-anak kung ano ba talaga ang pakay ng mga community pantry na ito? Malamang, marami silang kakilala na nakipila rin dito at naramdaman ang kabutihan ng kanilang kapwa Pilipino,” they added.

(Why don’t these policemen ask their families, relatives what’s the purpose of this community pantry? For sure there is someone they know who fell in line and felt the goodness of fellow Filipino.)

The senators stressed that “hunger is the problem and these relief efforts by private citizens should be encouraged.”

“The harassment and intimidation of those involved in these relief efforts exacerbate the hunger and hardships of our citizens. We condemn these acts,” they said.

“Hunger is the problem, which these relief efforts directly address. Imbes na pahirapan, pagbawalan, at ipasarado, tulungan na lang dapat ng PNP ang mga local government units (LGUs) na siguraduhing napapatupad ang minimum health protocols sa mga community pantries,” the senators added.

Community pantries started to emerge after a small business owner in Quezon City set up the Maginhawa community pantry, a bamboo cart containing donated food and other essential goods for those in need amid the pandemic.

The operations of Maginhawa community pantry, its organizer recently said, will be temporarily halted amid red-tagging fears.

In her post, Patricia Non included screenshots of several social media posts accusing the community pantry of links with communist groups.

One of the screenshots showed that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict shared posts saying that community pantries are being used for propaganda of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Many netizens have also called out police officers allegedly profiling organizers of the community pantry projects in the city of Manila.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Debold Sinas, however, denied issuing orders for police officers to profile organizers of community pantries. Sinas says no PNP order to profile organizers of community pantries.

JPV