IBP: Community pantries should be replicated, not profiled

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Wednesday backed the initiative of private citizens to distribute free food items and other essentials to the poor amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, IBP president Domingo Cayosa said such an initiative should be praised and not be a subject of profiling by the authorities.

“No law is violated when one feeds the hungry and helps the needy survive in this pandemic. Community pantries should be praised, not profiled; replicated, not red-tagged; supported, not stopped,” he said.

Cayosa issued the statement following reports of alleged red tagging and profiling of some organizers by police officers in some parts of Metro Manila.

The Philippine National Police on Tuesday denied that there was a directive to profile organizers but the government’s anti-insurgency task force had admitted that background checks have been conducted.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año had already said that individuals who plan to set up community pantries do not need to secure permits from local officials.

Año said police officers should only ensure that the minimum health standards were being observed in the community pantries, adding that cops should only meddle if there was a violation of the law.

The Maginhawa Community Pantry, which started the initiative of helping those in need and later influenced a horde of other individuals and groups to do the same, stopped its services on Tuesday due to red-tagging reports.

It resumed operations on Wednesday. -MDM, GMA News