Another raging national debate is ongoing. The issue is community pantry. There should be no debate if some Filipino don’t mix community pantry up with the nation’s favorite pastime – politics.
People who are behind the CP should be lauded for their noble effort to help fellow countrymen who are presumed to hardly make both ends meet amid the pandemic. There ought to be pantries in all communities in the country.
But trouble starts when some politics-addicted Filipinos inject politics by using the otherwise laudable effort to bash the administration alleging that the community pantry came to being because of the failure of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government to help Filipinos in their hardship amid Covid-19.
The political commentary using an otherwise commendable effort logically infuriates the legions supporting Mr. Duterte and company. The loyal ones even charge that the opposition is behind the community pantry designed to put the administration in a bad light.
Then came some eager beavers from the police and other state forces asking questions like who are behind the pantries, and so forth and so on. They argue that the community pantries should not be used in propaganda against the government.
All these leave a bad taste in the mouth. But we think the cookie will not crumble. People individually and in crowds, will continue to take advantage of the community pantry. They don’t care who are behind the pantries. They don’t care about politics. They need the food for free.
The community pantry will stop only when people and organizations behind run out of money to buy all those food items given for free.
People will continue to patronize the community pantry for as long as they exist and continue giving away foodstuffs that they are in dire need of. They wouldn’t care about politics. They will only care about their survival and that of their loved ones. They are that wisened now.
