For House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, the community pantries that have sprouted in the Philippines is proof that kindness will thrive in spite of threats and that the organizers must be supported instead of being harassed.
DEPUTY House Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda has expressed her disappointment on reported harassments perpetrated by government agents on some organizers of community pantries.
“No civilized nation should allow any of its citizens to go hungry and when it happens, it is the duty of everyone, not just the State, to step up,” she stressed.
Legarda said that instead of harassing community pantry organizers, these government officials should instead assist in ensuring that health protocols are followed.
“The speed with which people took up the burden of making food available for the hungry when someone started setting the example is nothing short of phenomenal,” the solon added.
Legarda, known for her advocacies on sustainability and public welfare, added that the community pantries have also exposed a “more pernicious security threat.”
“The very essence of these community pantries is for people who are hungry not to have to resort to disorderly measures just to put food in their stomachs. Yes, there is a danger they would be disorderly but they prevent a much larger, more pernicious security threat – the desperately hungry,” she explained.
The solon also stressed that the viral phenomenon that has spread throughout the country is proof that “you can’t kill kindness.”
“No matter how much fear you put in the hearts of people who are merely trying to create a just society, kindness will thrive and the only way forward is to join in,” Legarda concluded.
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Tags: #communitypantry, #LorenLegarda