By Chito A. Chavez
For the homeless and the poor who turn to cigarettes or solvent to numb the pangs of hunger, a free hot delicious chicken porridge to warm the gut when hunger strikes is a gift from heaven. For nothing comes for free in these difficult times.
At the foot of the northbound MRT-Cubao Station, there used to be a steady line of people waiting to take free breakfast of either champorado or arroz caldo (chicken porridge) at Duterte’s Kitchen, rain or shine. Here, the problem of where to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner is solved when there is not enough money to buy food to last the day.
The kitchen opened in October, 2016, or three months after then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte became President. It is the first fixed Duterte Kitchen whose operation is inspired by the advocacy of Duterte when he was still mayor that no one should go hungry. It opens its doors to the hungry at 7 a.m. until supply lasts.
Photo by Alvin Kasiban
Here, no one is discriminated against. The street waifs, the homeless, the beggar, the unemployed, the worker rushing to work on an empty stomach, the vendor, students, senior citizens, the strong, the weak, and the disable partake of the free meals side-by-side. Never mind if at times, the arroz caldo tastes bland. The porridge gives energy to the body and with boiled egg in it is a good source of protein. Besides, bland is better than nothing.
And the walk-ins have containers, too, for take home arroz caldo for loved ones left at home. And the staff gladly obliges.
Jordan Paul Ragos who stood in line as early as 5 a.m. said for him Duterte’s Kitchen is a gift from God. This time, he is alone. But there are times, he said, when he takes his whole family to have free meals at the kitchen on days when he has nothing to feed his family of five. His long credit list in several sari-sari stores in his neighborhood at Barangay Quirino 2-B in Quezon City has made him a butt of jokes among his neighbors and has endured the ridicule of asking relatives for loan or money to buy food.
The Duterte's Kitchen in Siquijor were at least 50 Alpha Kappa Rho Fraternity brothers and 15 volunteers regularly helds a feeding program to less fortunate families in remote barangays and schools in the Siquijor province. (DK Siquijor)
“Things have not been a bed of roses. My salary as security guard is not enough to cover for our daily expenses so I really scamper to look for extra earnings to support my family. Right now, I begged off from my security guard duties after being assigned to a far-flung area in Batangas.
In the meantime, I earn by running errands for my neighbors or tend to my mother’s store where I am given free food,” Ragos told Manila Bulletin.
Cusi’s brainchild
The kitchen’s administrative staff Anna Marie Tan said Ragos’ story is only one of the many heartbreaking tales of beneficiaries of the feeding program. A brainchild of close Duterte ally Alfonso Cusi who would later become Energy secretary, Tan said the kitchen serves from 1,000 to 1,500 persons daily from less than a hundred when it started in 2016.
“Secretary Cusi thought of bringing Duterte’s Kitchen, which started in Davao City when the President was still mayor, to Metro Manila to expand and provide delicious and fresh food to a wider scope of needy citizens,” Tan, a former PDP-Laban staff in Davao City, added.
Jeffrey Aberilla, one of the paid workers in the kitchen, said Cusi forks between P60,000 to P80,000 of his personal money to support the feeding program which Duterte started. Behind the tough guy image is a soft heart for the poor and the oppressed.
“About 70 percent of our clients are the homeless. Even ordinary passers-by on their way to work have become regular clients,” Aberilla added.
Chicken donor
Aside from Cusi, another die-hard Duterte supporter, Net World Hotel in Pasay City provides 15 kilos of chicken for the arroz caldo cooked in 10 big-size kaldero.
To support the expenses of the free kitchen, Net World has been holding regular painting auctions – the proceeds of which go to the kitchen.
“Such admirable acts of Sec. Al Cusi and Net World have provided free arroz caldo to the kitchen’s clients since 2016, meaning there are less people going hungry. This is for everyone, for every religious group, social status, gender, and political affiliation. This is for everybody,” Aberilla said.
Tan said aside from the fixed kitchen, they, too, have two mobile kitchens which regularly go to depressed areas in Metro Manila to hand free arroz caldo, especially in times of calamities.
Early bird
After 17 months, the kitchen ceased its Cubao operations last March 24 and found a new home in the populous Barangay Manresa also in Quezon City that is slowly attracting droves of people since it opened last April 2. Aberilla said they have to contend with the unruly crowd as they hand out bowls of hot, delicious arroz caldo Monday to Saturday, from 7 a.m. until supply lasts.
On its first few days at its new site beside the barangay hall, residents from nearby barangays of Masambong, Santo Domingo, Del Monte, Talayan, Tatalon, and Sienna curiously tried the free porridge and came back for more servings. Like the Cubao crowd, residents have brought with them containers for take home arroz caldo and the staff gladly oblige knowing the reason for their service.
The free tasty chicken arroz caldo has become a hit that even residents from barangays Holy Spirit, Payatas, Batasan Hill, and Matandang Balara – all in Quezon City – troop to Duterte’s Kitchen.
Digging into the porridge like a whirlwind, Arnel Reyes said he had not taken breakfast and had a light dinner the night before as he consumed his share in seconds. Sounding more serious, Reyes said he hopes President Duterte makes free porridge available to other communities in all parts of the country.
Jay Turla, a messenger who happened to pass by, did not pass up the chance to taste the porridge. He hopes that in Navotas where he lives, they could have a Duterte Kitchen, too, which will be a very big help to those who could barely make both ends meet.
“Many families in our place give their children P10 to buy bread or porridge for breakfast. A couple with six children will be able to save if we have a Duterte Kitchen in our neighborhood.
There are also lots of scavengers who will benefit from this feeding project. Also the homeless on the street will enjoy the free food,” Turla thought of the would-be beneficiaries as he scooped and savored his porridge.
Months before the kitchen closed its Cubao operations, Barangay Manresa chairman Ciceron Ada, 64, learned from a friend that the kitchen was looking for a space after the building owner gave notice he was putting the stall occupied by the kitchen for rent.
He offered a vacant space beside the barangay hall. Admitting that 70 percent of his constituents are poor, Ada said the Duterte Kitchen in their midst eases the burden of feeding their children.
Ada encouraged all barangays to provide ample space for the kitchen when the opportunity presents itself. He said he offered the kitchen free use of the building because of his poor community members who would benefit from the feeding project.
The retired colonel, who is not sure of getting a second term because he wielded an iron hand to instill discipline and implement the law in his turf, acknowledged that the kitchen in his barangay may boost to his campaign with the village elections a few weeks away. But he claims that his leadership style reduced by 60 percent the crime rate in his barangay, known as “pugad ng mandarambong” (haven of the lawless) when he assumed his post.
But he emphasized that he took the kitchen in not for political reasons.
Photo by Alvin Kasiban
Here, no one is discriminated against. The street waifs, the homeless, the beggar, the unemployed, the worker rushing to work on an empty stomach, the vendor, students, senior citizens, the strong, the weak, and the disable partake of the free meals side-by-side. Never mind if at times, the arroz caldo tastes bland. The porridge gives energy to the body and with boiled egg in it is a good source of protein. Besides, bland is better than nothing.
And the walk-ins have containers, too, for take home arroz caldo for loved ones left at home. And the staff gladly obliges.
Jordan Paul Ragos who stood in line as early as 5 a.m. said for him Duterte’s Kitchen is a gift from God. This time, he is alone. But there are times, he said, when he takes his whole family to have free meals at the kitchen on days when he has nothing to feed his family of five. His long credit list in several sari-sari stores in his neighborhood at Barangay Quirino 2-B in Quezon City has made him a butt of jokes among his neighbors and has endured the ridicule of asking relatives for loan or money to buy food.
The Duterte's Kitchen in Siquijor were at least 50 Alpha Kappa Rho Fraternity brothers and 15 volunteers regularly helds a feeding program to less fortunate families in remote barangays and schools in the Siquijor province. (DK Siquijor)
“Things have not been a bed of roses. My salary as security guard is not enough to cover for our daily expenses so I really scamper to look for extra earnings to support my family. Right now, I begged off from my security guard duties after being assigned to a far-flung area in Batangas.
In the meantime, I earn by running errands for my neighbors or tend to my mother’s store where I am given free food,” Ragos told Manila Bulletin.
Cusi’s brainchild
The kitchen’s administrative staff Anna Marie Tan said Ragos’ story is only one of the many heartbreaking tales of beneficiaries of the feeding program. A brainchild of close Duterte ally Alfonso Cusi who would later become Energy secretary, Tan said the kitchen serves from 1,000 to 1,500 persons daily from less than a hundred when it started in 2016.
“Secretary Cusi thought of bringing Duterte’s Kitchen, which started in Davao City when the President was still mayor, to Metro Manila to expand and provide delicious and fresh food to a wider scope of needy citizens,” Tan, a former PDP-Laban staff in Davao City, added.
Jeffrey Aberilla, one of the paid workers in the kitchen, said Cusi forks between P60,000 to P80,000 of his personal money to support the feeding program which Duterte started. Behind the tough guy image is a soft heart for the poor and the oppressed.
“About 70 percent of our clients are the homeless. Even ordinary passers-by on their way to work have become regular clients,” Aberilla added.
Chicken donor
Aside from Cusi, another die-hard Duterte supporter, Net World Hotel in Pasay City provides 15 kilos of chicken for the arroz caldo cooked in 10 big-size kaldero.
To support the expenses of the free kitchen, Net World has been holding regular painting auctions – the proceeds of which go to the kitchen.
“Such admirable acts of Sec. Al Cusi and Net World have provided free arroz caldo to the kitchen’s clients since 2016, meaning there are less people going hungry. This is for everyone, for every religious group, social status, gender, and political affiliation. This is for everybody,” Aberilla said.
Tan said aside from the fixed kitchen, they, too, have two mobile kitchens which regularly go to depressed areas in Metro Manila to hand free arroz caldo, especially in times of calamities.
Early bird
After 17 months, the kitchen ceased its Cubao operations last March 24 and found a new home in the populous Barangay Manresa also in Quezon City that is slowly attracting droves of people since it opened last April 2. Aberilla said they have to contend with the unruly crowd as they hand out bowls of hot, delicious arroz caldo Monday to Saturday, from 7 a.m. until supply lasts.
On its first few days at its new site beside the barangay hall, residents from nearby barangays of Masambong, Santo Domingo, Del Monte, Talayan, Tatalon, and Sienna curiously tried the free porridge and came back for more servings. Like the Cubao crowd, residents have brought with them containers for take home arroz caldo and the staff gladly oblige knowing the reason for their service.
The free tasty chicken arroz caldo has become a hit that even residents from barangays Holy Spirit, Payatas, Batasan Hill, and Matandang Balara – all in Quezon City – troop to Duterte’s Kitchen.
Digging into the porridge like a whirlwind, Arnel Reyes said he had not taken breakfast and had a light dinner the night before as he consumed his share in seconds. Sounding more serious, Reyes said he hopes President Duterte makes free porridge available to other communities in all parts of the country.
Jay Turla, a messenger who happened to pass by, did not pass up the chance to taste the porridge. He hopes that in Navotas where he lives, they could have a Duterte Kitchen, too, which will be a very big help to those who could barely make both ends meet.
“Many families in our place give their children P10 to buy bread or porridge for breakfast. A couple with six children will be able to save if we have a Duterte Kitchen in our neighborhood.
There are also lots of scavengers who will benefit from this feeding project. Also the homeless on the street will enjoy the free food,” Turla thought of the would-be beneficiaries as he scooped and savored his porridge.
Months before the kitchen closed its Cubao operations, Barangay Manresa chairman Ciceron Ada, 64, learned from a friend that the kitchen was looking for a space after the building owner gave notice he was putting the stall occupied by the kitchen for rent.
He offered a vacant space beside the barangay hall. Admitting that 70 percent of his constituents are poor, Ada said the Duterte Kitchen in their midst eases the burden of feeding their children.
Ada encouraged all barangays to provide ample space for the kitchen when the opportunity presents itself. He said he offered the kitchen free use of the building because of his poor community members who would benefit from the feeding project.
The retired colonel, who is not sure of getting a second term because he wielded an iron hand to instill discipline and implement the law in his turf, acknowledged that the kitchen in his barangay may boost to his campaign with the village elections a few weeks away. But he claims that his leadership style reduced by 60 percent the crime rate in his barangay, known as “pugad ng mandarambong” (haven of the lawless) when he assumed his post.
But he emphasized that he took the kitchen in not for political reasons.