The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has told the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) that six out of 10 Filipinos were reported to have experienced moderate to severe food insecurity since the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

It sent its written statement on the Philippine government’s response to pandemic to UNHCHR Michelle Bachelet.

"This submission focuses on the current state laws, policies, and their implementation to curb the steep rise in the rate of COVID-19 infection this year as well as the ongoing efforts to vaccinate Filipinos against COVID-19," the CHR said in its statement.

"Food insecurity prominently resurfaced as a primary human rights concern in the country this year with the organizing of community pantries, which are also given emphasis in this submission," it said.

The CHR cited data from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which conducted the Rapid Nutrition Assessment Survey from Nov. 3 to Dec. 3 2020.

It said that data from the DOST survey revealed that 62.1 percent of Filipinos, or six out of 10 individuals, reported they had experienced moderate to severe food insecurity.

It also cited survey results that 56.3 percent of the households having problems accessing food during the community quarantine period due to lack of funds to buy food (22.1 percent), limited public transportation (21.6 percent), no money due to loss of job (19.5 percent), and limited food stores in the area (10.8 percent).

More than five percent of the surveyed households indicated that they faced mobility issues due to old age and had no other members to buy food, it added.

But the CHR told UNHCHR that the social amelioration programs of the government and food donations organized by the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector provided temporary relief for individuals and families who experience job loss, hunger, and food insecurity during the pandemic.

It pointed out that many Filipinos set up community pantries, where those in need could freely take food.

However, it also reported that the organizer of the first community pantry, the Maginhawa Community Pantry, was red-tagged and forced to suspend operations for safety concerns.

"Government social media pages linked these initiatives to the communist movement," the CHR said.

"The Commission received reports of local law enforcement agents subjecting organizers of community pantries to questions regarding their affiliations and photos on social media allegedly showing policemen handing out forms that organizers need to fill out with their personal details," it said.

Thankfully, the CHR pointed out, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte backed up the community pantry organizers.

The NPC, through its Commissioner Raymund Liboro, strongly advised against the "unjust profiling" of community pantry organizers and said that it "poses risks for private citizens."

Belmonte likewise issued a statement assuring support and protection for the organizers operating within the city.

"The Commission reminds the government, particularly local law enforcement officers, that collecting data, including the affiliation of community pantry 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 CHR said.

"The community pantry is an example of the exemplary spirit of ‘bayanihan’ (cooperative undertaking) to make up for the gaps of government action in addressing the long-term adverse effects of the pandemic," it added.