The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday, April 20, warned that the authorities were abusing their power by reportedly profiling organizers of community pantries.
In a statement, CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said that collecting data, including the affiliation of organizers, “is an encroachment upon the right to privacy of citizens and represents yet again an overreach and abuse of police power bereft of any statutory or legal basis.”
The operations of the first community pantry in Maginhawa Street in Quezon City was temporarily suspended over safety concerns after it was red-tagged by social media posts of the QC Police District and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
While other community pantries remained open, several organizers also reported being asked about their affiliations and other information.
Human rights groups earlier blasted goverment-linked groups for baseless accusations that community pantries are vehicles for communist propaganda.
CHR said that these actions “dimmed the hopes of many that have come to see the community pantries as means of sustenance to provide food for themselves and their families.”
“It is… concerning that this initiative, as well as the other community pantries that have followed, are under the threat of profiling and surveillance by local law enforcement authorities and are subject to red-tagging across various accounts in social media,” CHR’s De Guia said.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte assured other pantry organizers that the local government fully supports their initiatives and will “ensure that organizers and beneficiaries…remain safe and unimpeded.”
The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, said there was no such order from its national headquarters. Malacañang, also, ordered NTF-ELCAC to leave the pantries alone. – Rappler.com
Join the movement. Check this story for detailed instructions on how to start your own community pantry. Feel free to share photos and videos of your pantries and tag us at @MovePH and @rapplerdotcom on Twitter. We are collating a list of verified community pantries here.
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