CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Despite being dubbed by others as a propaganda ploy by the left-leaning groups, police authorities here support the establishment of community pantries.
“The Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) will not interfere with any voluntary private sector initiatives that seek to alleviate the living conditions of the less fortunate severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic by providing for their basic needs,” said Col. Henry Dampal, city police director, in a statement posted by Cocpo on Facebook Friday, April 23.
In fact, he said, Cocpo has initiated a food bank project for indigent and disaster-stricken communities in 2020 .
“With the help of our kind-hearted stakeholders and volunteers we were able to continue the PNP-COCPO food bank projects for our less fortunate families and individuals conducted by the COCPO headquarters, police stations, and mobile forces personnel,” Dampal said.
He added: “Rest assured we will support and assist all the endeavors in ensuring smooth and orderly operations of private sector outreach activities with greater emphasis on the health and safety amidst the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Dampal’s pronouncement came after Rene Principe Jr., a University of the Philippines-Diliman alumnus who also teaches at the same state-run school, was red-tagged two days after he started a community pantry outside his home in Barangay Kauswagan, this city.
Inspired by the first community pantry in Maginhawa St., Quezon City, Principe said he started his own food-sharing drive on Monday, April 19.
“I know how it feels to be starving, to wait in line for hours just to get food. I know the struggle of hunger. That’s why I started my own community pantry to help my neighbors who are affected by the pandemic,” he said, as he recalled when his family was affected by Super Typhoon Sendong in 2011.
Principe bought grocery items and vegetables from his own pocket and set up a stall he borrowed from his parents.
He said most of those who lined up were the elderly and trisikad drivers.
“It gave me happiness to help even though we are just a poor family,” he said.
Principe said he was supposed to continue operating the pantry when Tuesday night he became a target of a cyber-attack on social media.
The following day, fliers that show his alleged association to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army were scattered in some parts of Kauswagan.
“We woke up Wednesday morning with fliers scattered all over our neighborhood. I was linked to terrorist organizations. I deny all these allegations because my intention is pure when I put up the community pantry. I only want to help those who are in need,” Principe said.
After the incident, Principe said it remains to be seen if he wants to continue the community pantry.
He added the funds that he has collected from friends and donors were given to other community pantries in the city, particularly in Barangays Iponan and Nazareth and other communities.
The Campong couple, Norkhalila Mae and Abdelnur, who owned a restaurant in downtown Cagayan de Oro, was not spared from profiling allegedly conducted by men who identified themselves as members of the law enforcement intelligence group when they opened their own halal community pantry outside their establishment on Monday.
Like Principe, Norkhalila said they got the idea from the Maginhawa community pantry, “but we made it ‘halal’ (permissible) to emphasize that as Muslims we are only displaying and accepting donations that are halal so that our Muslim brothers and sisters, when they come in, they won’t have any fear or getting ‘haram’ (forbidden) supplies”.
But she clarified that the community pantry that they established is for Muslims and individuals of other faith and was based on the practice of “zadka” or charity.
“Our community pantry is for everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims. Everyone is welcome as long as they need something,” she said.
Among the items that the food station that the Mambuays have established are fruits, vegetables, eggs, rice, sugar, salt, spices and other ingredients, canned goods, noodles, biscuits, coffee, milk, chocolate drink, soap, detergent, and feminine napkins.
For his part, Abdelnur said those who availed of the goods were grateful and were polite when they took items from the community pantry.
“The people are not rowdy. No one’s pushing or fighting over the food. They would usually ask first before taking something. I hope it stays that way,” he said.
The only glitch in the couple’s efforts was when a group of men approached the community pantry and began asking questions about it, particularly on the identity of the donors.
Norkhalila said the men introduced themselves as “police intel,” although she said all of them were wearing civilian clothes and did not show any identification cards.
In a Facebook post, Zia Adiong, a member of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliament, said “the principle behind the community pantries is Islamic. We call it zadka, which means charity.”
He said that for Muslims, “this goes beyond our personal decisions because it is part of our obligation to the ummah. The attempt to halt community pantries begs the question of when is generosity and humanity considered a fault? The answer is never”.
