A community pantry in Malabon (Photo courtesy of Nina Louise Tesorero)
MANILA – Groups and individuals are free to set up community pantries to help the needy but using these to incite hatred against the government is a different story, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Wednesday.
PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Olay, made this remark, following reports of some community pantries where anti-government leaflets are being distributed to beneficiaries.
"Yan ay binabato sa mga commanders on the ground namin kaya yun ang tinitingnan namin na huwag naman ito abusuhin o sakyan ng mga grupo. Sa amin ay kung in the spirit of bayanihan ay talagang nagbibigay sila ng ayuda at walang kulay ay wala pong masama doon dahil pagtulong ito pero kapag sinakyan na ito ng mga ibang organisasyon na may ibang pakay ay doon na magkakaroon ng ibang interpretasyon ang kanilang mga gawain (We have relayed this to the commanders on the ground because what we are after is that these should not be abused or taken advantage of by some groups. As for us, there is nothing wrong with helping one another in the spirit of bayanihan but if these are taken advantage of by other organizations that have other motives. This gives a different interpretation of their acts)," Olay said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Olay added that community pantry organizers have nothing to fear about the presence of police officers, stressing that their only concern is to ensure orderly distribution and observance of health protocols.
“The police officers were only deployed to ensure peace and order for people lining up at the pantries. Para walang mag unahan (So that no one will skip the lines)," he added.
Olay also added that PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, has ordered an investigation into the alleged profiling and red tagging of community pantry organizers by police officers.
"Inatasan niya ang CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) at saka ang ACG (Anti-Cybercrime Group) on Facebook accounts ng PNP na nag-share ng mga posts na nagbibigay bahid sa mga gawaing ito (He has ordered the CIDG and the ACG to probe these Facebook accounts of the PNP that shared alleged red-tagging posts),” he said.
Meanwhile, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya also appealed to groups and people to spare the noble cause from politics.
Spare from politics
"Whatever they say during those community pantries, if they put on signs, are part of protected speech. We are a democratic society and people can say whatever they want. However, we in the DILG would rather that people do not include politics in the community pantry,’’ Malaya said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
Malaya emphasized that adding political color to community pantries may turn these acts into an act of propaganda.
The DILG official noted that the department appeals to the public and organizers of the community pantry “to keep this initiative politically zero so that we do not further complicate (current health situation).’’
“We are already in a disaster and then we are ascribing politics to what should be selfless acts of kindness,’’ said Malaya.
The DILG earlier denied that it has tapped the PNP to conduct profiling and surveillance of community pantry organizers.
"In fact, we support the existence of these pantries. We offered the help of the PNP and barangays if needed so these community pantries may operate freely," he added.
With regards to declarations attributed to the National Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) pertaining to leftist groups using community pantries for propaganda purposes, Malaya explained that this is different from the statement coming from the DILG.
“We are part of the NTF-ELCAC but we are not the head of the communications cluster. It's headed by someone else, by Usec. (Undersecretary) Lorraine Badoy so the statements coming from the NTF-ELCAC are different from those coming from the DILG. I do not wish to intrude with what the NTF-ELCAC is doing," he said, adding that the DILG is mandated to supervise peace and order, public safety and good local governance. (PNA)
