"Some initiatives had the effect of shaming the administration for its inability to provide aid and hope to those suffering during the pandemic."
"Some initiatives had the effect of shaming the administration for its inability to provide aid and hope to those suffering during the pandemic."Families helping families. Neighbors helping neighbors. Communities helping communities. Nations helping nations. Acts of kindness, of charity, of humanity happen every minute of the day around the world. Acts like these big and small, as the song goes, are as old as time.
Footages of fire or typhoon or even accident victims getting some kind of help one way or the other are seen regularly on TV. We also have scenes of feeding stations especially in informal settler areas giving out hot meals with some groups going even mobile for street kids and the homeless.
Some groups have even taken to collecting (buying even) fresh vegetables and fruits, rescuing them from spoilage after regular market hours to give to neighbors and communities in need. Giving out old clothes and household items have also been regular fares. At some point, there have also been rescuers and feeding of neighborhood pets.
Others have taken to housing and related causes all in that tradition of neighbors-helping-neighbors. While homelessness has been less of an issue in the country unlike in the United States and other developed nations as I tend to agree that our people have been more creative and daring as informal settlers forcing owners of vacant lots and government to bend to their wishes, we have had our share of successful NGO-initiated housing (settlements) projects, Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity, which have been sustained and gained even more adherents through the years calling out the inadequacies of every administration’s housing operations for years.
Environmental oriented initiatives have also been on the rise, buoyed no end by continued degradation of our natural resources and, yes, lots of push from international environmental NGOs, funded in large part by corporations trying to burnish their credentials or, as some have been suspecting, to stain their rivals in the trade.
In 2010, our very own Efren Peñaflorida was voted CNN “Hero of the Year” for his Pushcart Classroom project. Through this, he and his fellow volunteers initiated to provide youths an alternative frm gang induction, The pushcart (kariton) had books, magazines and other reading materials plus a blackboard which they used in teaching and engaging out of school youth n street children in reading n basic learning rudiments. The project became such a success that no less than 50 such pushcart classrooms(Learning on Wheels) projects sprouted all over the country. It has since gained adherents in other countries, making Peñaflorida a pioneer of sorts in innovative and alternative ways of learning and sharing between and among peoples.
Faith-based organizations have been pioneers in these kinds of initiatives. They have in fact been doing a lot more frequently and expansively than before the pandemic. I have been hearing that the CBCP sponsored Caritas Manila has been thanking a lot of donors for funding a new line up of projects meant to alleviate the needy in targeted areas. The INC has been quietly ramping up its own “caring and sharing” operations in Metro Manila and elsewhere. Others like El Shaddai, Jesus Is Lord, Dating Daan/UNTV and Pastor Quiboloy’s brethren have been doing their own share of “caring and giving”through these times. Given the limitations and protocols under this pandemic, these initiatives are on top of their regular daily Kalinga (help) operations for members and communities within their churches.
While a good number of such neighbors-helping-neighbors initiatives eventually faded after the last fire or typhoon victim got rescued and on the way to more sustainable rehabilitation, some such activities graduated into bigger operations supported by big donors and even corporations as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Lately, however, as the pandemic became even more problematic as a second wave appeared to be on the rise, a lot of the leaner operations got back in play. We heard of city folks doing “rescue” operations for farmers in need – buying (rescuing) their fresh produce from spoilage and giving these to their neighbors, friends or even food banks run by various groups.
So it did not come as a surprise to me that Ana Patricia Non’s community pantry would crop up and gain adherents. It was some kind of reminder that the pandemic is not over and that it was time to re-introduce the good old neighbors-helping-neighbors ethos. That it was being revisited by a young person possibly worried no end about the fate of her neighbors made things even more heart rending. It was an idea whose time had once again come.
The problem is this initiative, if the reports are true, became a platform for things other than a show of kindness and charity. It turned out to be more than a neighbors-helping-neighbors project. That it had the effect of shaming the administration for its inability to provide aid and hope to those suffering during the pandemic would have been a welcome call-out of sorts. And par for the course, too.
Probably nobody, save those who continue to have blinders, would have objected to calling out the many instances of neglect and incompetence attending the administration’s response to the pandemic. Non’s initiative would have been warmly received and more. But the anti-Duterte calls and anti-government propaganda which has attended the operation has tainted it beyond repair. Sayang.
Coming to the succor of those in need under any circumstance speaks of our innate humanity, the nobility of our spirit. This outpouring of love and kindness underlies one of our most admirable traits as a people – our Bayanihan spirit.
There is no value, maybe even virtue in using it some other ways.
