At the "COVID-19 Pandemic and Community Initiatives to Fight Hunger" online forum hosted by Now You Know PH on Tuesday afternoon, organizers of community pantries and kitchens called on government officials to support community-led initiatives to address persistent hunger during the community quarantine. Instead of making the community pantries close, they should go inside and bring order to the violations themselves," law professor Charlie Yu, who set up a community pantry in New Manila, said in mixed Filipino and English. With Filipinos still waiting on government aid, community pantries popped up all over the country to assist the hungry and the jobless. From the very beginning, pantry organizers have reported harassment, red-tagging, and profiling at the hands of uniformed police personnel. "The least they could do is to help if they cannot do anything else...they should be glad that we are doing this for the people," Frieda Hizon, a Makati community pantry volunteer said.

Source: Philippine Star June 29, 2021 09:56 UTC