DILG Requires Permit for Community Pantry to Ensure Compliance in Health Protocols
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) requires community pantry a permit from the local government unit (LGU) to ensure health protocols compliance.
Given the danger of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño said Tuesday that community pantries organizers should seek permission from local governments. He went on to say that these charitable endeavors should have permits from the local, mayor, or barangay because they were being crowded with people who need their free offerings, making them uncontrollable and even violating protocol.
“I think now they need [a] permit from the local, mayor, or the barangay. Una, paisa-isa lang yan. Ngayon kaso dinumog na ng tao, ibig sabihin wala nang control pati yung protocol ngayon ay na-violate na,” he said in an interview with ANC.
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Dio applauds organizers’ efforts to provide neighborhood pantries for his countrymen in need. He did say, however, that barangay and local governments should help them follow health protocols.
When asked about the alleged red-tagging of these organizers by government officials, Dio clarified that the only issue with community pantries is the inability to recognize social distancing among people.
The organizer of the Maginhawa Community Pantry, Anna Patricia Non, announced on Monday that the pantry would be temporarily closed for the protection of its volunteers, who had been red-tagged by the government’s social media accounts.
They’ve also expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision to halt their operations. The group posted photographs of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has been embroiled in red-tagging scandals in the past years, and reportedly shares posts alleging that the initiative is being used for CPP-NPA-NDF propaganda.
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