Leave community pantries alone, Philippine palace tells anticommunist task force

Two women sit idly by at the spot of the original community pantry on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City after small business owner Ana Patricia Non, who ignited the food aid movement, announced a “pause” on April 19. - SCREENSHOT FROM NTF-ELCAC FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): Malacañang on Tuesday (April 20) said the government’s anticommunist task force should leave the community pantries alone after the agency linked the citizens’ movement to the insurgency, forcing the young woman who started it to temporarily shut down her aid station for the safety of volunteer workers.

President Rodrigo Duterte backs these citizens’ initiatives to provide food aid to the needy who are struggling to survive the pandemic which had crippled the economy, according to his spokesperson Harry Roque.