Community pantries give hope to more lockdown-hit residents

Hope springs from visible corners of communities in various parts of the country offering food and other essential goods to needy families bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic.

The community pantry that started in Maginhawa Street in Quezon has been replicated in many areas, and more low-income families have found sources for their daily sustenance.

In a "24 Oras" report of Tina Panganiban-Perez, two spouses of sickened husbands received food from community pantries in their neighborhood. This includes a street sweeper in Quezon City who needed assistance as her husband is suffering from a stroke.

Another resident named Elsie also received food from a community pantry, which she said was a big help considering her husband, breadwinner of their family, has aneurysm.

Ana Patricia Non, who started the movement in Maginhawa, said she was happy that people were "empowered" to put up community pantries in their areas. However, she was also saddened because community pantries were installed because people do not have enough resources to feed their families amid the lockdown.

In less than a week since Non started the food community drive, other community pantries were established in Matatag Street, Matiyaga Street, Cubao and UP Diliman Campus in Quezon City.

In Matatag Street, one of the residents, who took pieces of vegetables from the pantry, left a few coins to the community pantry as a sign of gratitude. In UP Diliman, the community pantry also offers medicine aside from food.

In Cubao, a community pantry also gives lugar or rice porridge.

Outside of Metro Manila, community pantries have started to appear at Plaridel, Bulacan, Calamba and Pagsanjan in Laguna, and Tiaong, Quezon.

In Calamba, a couple decided to open a community pantry during their anniversary.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles lauded the community volunteerism but he noted that the government is doing everything it can to address issues happening on the ground.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, said the emergence of community pantries does not show that the government is being denounced.

He added that it showed the best of Filipinos during the worst of times.—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News