Maginhawa Community Pantry organizer mulls charges over NTF-ELCAC exec’s ‘fake news’ post

Ana Patricia Non, the organizer of the community pantry along Quezon City's Maginhawa Street, on Thursday described anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy’s Facebook post as “fake news” accusing her of having links to communist movement.

Likewise, Non said she is mulling legal action against her accusers who claim that she is part of the Reds.

“Sa totoo lang, ayaw ko bigyan ng attention si Miss Lorraine kasi ‘fake news na fake news’ [ang post]” (I don’t really care about what Ms. Lorraine says because all her accusations are fake news),” Non said in an interview with Dobol B TV.

“Ayaw ko pong patulan kasi gusto ko mag-focus sa community pantry. Lahat ng information, walang tumama po (I want to ignore it because I want to focus on the community pantry. None of the information Badoy posted was true),” she added.

Moreover, she said: “Nagko-consult po ako sa mga lawyer natin. Marami pong nagpa-abot ng support na mga lawyer kasi nakikita po nila na hindi tama ‘yung ginagawa sa akin.”

(I am consulting with the lawyers. A lot of them have expressed support because they see that my accusers are wrong).

In a Facebook post Wednesday night, Badoy accused Non of being a member of underground mass organization Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (ARMAS).

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson further claimed that Non started as council member of the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.

Non eventually headed Alay Sining and became national officer of Kabataang Artista Para sa Tunay na Kalayaan (Karatula), Badoy claimed.

Non refuted Badoy’s allegations, saying she is not a member of ARMAS, and neither is she an active member of Alay Sining organization.

She admitted that she was part of the UP Fine Arts Council but their activities only involved concerts and feeding programs.

Also, she said that Badoy’s claims on the fundraising initiatives, which she shared on her personal Facebook account, was “malicious.”

She said the online fundraising was led by her sister who is based in the United States.

Her sister is also doing a similar initiative in the US where she provides free food to the homeless, Non pointed out.

“Ito pong Paypal kaya niya ginawa kasi marami siyang friends from US and ‘yung international support na nagtatanong ng way ng padalhan,” Non said.

(The Paypal account was made because her friends in the US and other international support are asking where to send their donations.)

She likewise denied the allegation that the community pantry is giving away flyers that encourage the people getting goods from the pantry to revolt against the government.

On Tuesday, Non announced the temporary closure of the Maginhawa community pantry after the supposed profiling and red-tagging of the food-sharing initiative. It resumed operations Wednesday.

Earlier, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) posted graphics on its Facebook page apparently linking community pantry initiatives to the communist movement.

NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr.  on Tuesday denied red-tagging individuals, but admitted they are checking out the background of organizers of community pantries.

The QCPD, for its part, has since apologized for its FB post.

Due to NTF-ELCAC's profiling of community pantry organizers, some senators contemplated on defunding the task force.

The Philippine National Police earlier said it will investigate the alleged red-tagging of community pantry organizers. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News