In light of the issue of red-tagging of the first community pantry on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City, the Pasay City Police on the other hand commended the organizers of such project in the city.
In a text message, Pasay City Police Chief Cesar Paday-os said that the intention of community pantries is "commendable" as it "reflects the spirit of bayanihan" and
"pagmalalasakit sa kapwa (helping those in need)".
"The PNP and LGUs (local government units) would just ensure to maintain order and observance of health protocols in areas where they are located,” he said.
"Lagi pa rin natin iisipin na maski gaano kaganda ang intensyon ng isang programa, lagi lang isaalang-alang ang kapakanan ng bawat mamamayan lalo sa pag-iwas sa pagkakahawa sa COVID-19 (Let's always take into consideration the health and welfare of everyone, whatever program we are creating)," he added.
Paday-os said that the police are ready to help everyone in this time of COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned that the Pasay cops are prepared to help the community pantries.
As of Tuesday, April 20, more community pantries have emerged in the city after Ana Patricia Non launched the Maginhawa Community Pantry.
Non was forced to temporarily close the pantry on Tuesday after it was linked by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).