Why the rise of community pantries?

By Herbert Vego

 

THIS corner agrees with the observation of jailed Senator Leila de Lima that the proliferation of community pantries from an isolated one at Maginhawa, Quezon City to thousands nationwide indicates rising poverty under the Duterte presidency.

“Bawal ang maging makatao sa ilalim ni Duterte,” De Lima said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that anything good coming from the people is seen as a threat to the President’s rule.

This corner also agrees that, by red-tagging Ana Patricia Non, the initiator of the Maginhawa pantry, the Philippine military was trying to link her and organizers of other community pantries to the communist New People’s Army (NPA). They could be arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (RA 11479).

Non’s food cart carried the invitation, “Kumuha ayon sa pangangailangan; magbigay ayon sa kakayahan.”

Community pantries refer to makeshift stalls for food donations that would enable the growing number of hungry residents to eat their chosen items. Based on a conservative estimate by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), more than 4.5 million Filipinos have lost their jobs and other sources of income in the one-year duration of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Woe unto the Duterte-subservient generals for insisting that their search for “subversives” within both government and private organizations is aimed at ending half a century of communist infiltration.

I am afraid it’s the other way around.  As in the martial-law years under the late President Ferdinand Marcos, the people’s discontent with the government was the prime motivator behind disgruntled citizens fighting, whether with arms, the pen, or the microphone.

It is even harder now for the military to demonize communism. In fact, the local communists must be “envious” of President Duterte for being “more communist” than they, for being the “best friend” of China’s President Xi Jinping.

WELCOME,  MORE DIRECTOR JARDELEZA

WE are happy over the news that retired Supreme Court Associate Francis H. Jardeleza has joined MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) as an independent board director.

To quote Jardeleza as reported by our editor-in-chief Francis Allan L. Angelo, “I have learned a lot of improvements there since MORE Power began its operations. There are incremental improvements, and we can do more. I hope to help in my own way.”

This “little way” means that the retired legal luminary in the shoes of an independent director has invested not more than two percent in the company’s share of stocks.

That “little way” could also go a long way in gradually ending power pilferage that is the biggest obstacle to every power firm’s profitability and expansion. As we were going to press yesterday, MORE lawyer Allana Babayen-on had announced having already filed pilferage cases against elected and appointed government officials, among others.

MORE has upped its number of paying customers from 64,000 to around 74,000 in its first year of operation, or since February 29, 2020 when it took over Panay Electric Co. (PECO) by operation of law (RA 11212).

Under the able leadership of its president and chief operating officer, Roel Z. Castro, the new utility has proven itself capable of upgrading and replacing old and obsolete power lines.

When he retired from the Supreme Court Associate on Sept. 26, 2020 at the age of 70, Jardeleza spent time finalizing his book Judicial Restraint and the Passive Virtues, which contains his selected SC decisions and opinions.

Jardeleza happened to be one of my freshmen classmates – although he might have forgotten because I was not a stand-out in class – at the University of the Philippines, Iloilo College (UPIC) in 1966. It, therefore, surprised me that I received by LBC mail a hard-bound, autographed copy of his book.

Naturally humble, he is not known for self-exaltation. That explains why not everybody remembers that he was a member of the Philippine legal team that filed an arbitration case against the People’s Republic of China (PRC) before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, Netherlands in November 2015. Headed by then Solicitor-General Florin Hilbay, it also had Jardeleza and then-Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, among others, as members.

It is now part of history that, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the PCA in July 2016 unanimously ruled in favor of the Philippines, holding no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within its “nine-dash line” at the South China Sea.

A LESSON FROM THE SUNFLOWER

ONE of the inspirational messages that reached my cellphone yesterday came from long-time friend Raquel Chavez. Let me quote:

“Sunflowers chase the light. They turn to the direction of the sun. You already know this, but there is another fact that you probably do not know!

“Have you ever wondered what happens on cloudy and rainy days when the sun is covered by clouds?

“They face each other to share each other’s energy! It shows the amazing perfection of nature.

“Now how about spreading similar goodness? It will come back to you.

REST IN PEACE, LEO AND NARDS

THE sudden death of friends always leaves us shocked, as when we witnessed a funeral unfolding on Facebook. We saw our old friend Leo Dumagat, 82, lying in a casket during a funeral service at Elmhurst New York. Video-covering the service live at a funeral home was our fellow columnist Alex P. Vidal. Leo’s passing was also the subject of Alex’s column here yesterday.

Another unexpected traveler to the great divide was Vice-Mayor Leonardo Naldoza, 61, of Miag-ao, Iloilo, who succumbed to lingering liver illness last April 19. Listeners to our radio program – “Tribuna sang Banwa” every Sunday, 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo – will miss his “urban gardening” segment where he discussed with Neri Camiña and this writer tips on successful organic farming. His body now lies in state for public viewing at Moleta Funeral Homes in Miag-ao.

Vaya con Dios, amigos Leo y Nards.