{"id":47998,"date":"2021-05-28T07:24:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T05:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=47998"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:47:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:47:31","slug":"a-serving-of-hope-and-solidarity-from-manilas-community-pantries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/47998\/a-serving-of-hope-and-solidarity-from-manilas-community-pantries\/","title":{"rendered":"A serving of hope and solidarity from Manila\u2019s community pantries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Under the scorching afternoon sun, 21 year-old Joemar Pauig digs for fully-grown taro and purple yam from the shallow earth. Accompanied by his mother and younger brother, he loads the root crops on his horse for their descent from their hilltop farm in Daraitan, Rizal, east of Manila.<\/p>\n\n

 \u201cI go up here to harvest every three days since I also have other jobs, like cleaning the other people’s gardens,\u201d Joemar said.<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
Joemar Pauig loads baskets of harvested purple yam from his family’s farm in Daraitan, Rizal province.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Since childhood, Joemar and his fellow Dumagat Remontado, the indigenous peoples (IP) native to the area, were taught the ways of farming as a means of livelihood and survival. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cEven now, farming is still what we teach and pass on to the next generation because our land cannot be left underutilised,\u201d said Maria Clara Dullas, president of the women\u2019s group Kababaihang Dumagat ng Sierra Madre <\/em>(KGAT). \u201cWe plant food so that we can make use of our land and sustain ourselves with nature\u2019s bounty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
Maria Clara Dullas prepares to cook her day’s harvest of string beans and other vegetables.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Today\u2019s community\u2019s harvest is a special one. It would not only put food on their own tables, but also for hundreds of people lining up daily in Metro Manila\u2019s community pantries.<\/p>\n\n

Since April, community pantries have sprouted all over the Philippine capital and throughout the country. More than just a repository of edible goods, the community pantry has become a social phenomenon\u2014 a force for good where ordinary people give and donate food to those who are hungry, or hardest hit by the lockdowns and layoffs due to the pandemic. With community pantries, everyone is welcome to partake and contribute. The only rule is for people to take only what they need, and to share only what they can afford to give.<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
Vegetables and other donated goods are set up at the Mother Earth Foundation food pantry in Manila, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Despite the distance and a deadly virus, the Dumagat Remontado responded to a non-governmental organisation\u2019s call for vegetables supplies for community pantries.<\/p>\n\n


Those who fled<\/h3>\n\n

The Dumagat Remontado are no stranger to hardships and have endured countless trials as  indigenous peoples. The word Remontado<\/em> is of Spanish origin and means \u2018to flee or go back to the hills\u2019. The Dumagat Remontado are descendants of lowlanders who fled to the mountains to escape from Spanish colonisers centuries back.<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
The Dumagat Remontado enjoy a peaceful afternoon by the river in Daraitan, Rizal province, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Present-day Dumagats have been in the news, fighting for their rights and opposing the construction of the Kaliwa Dam on their ancestral lands <\/a> that would flood Daraitan and neighboring areas in Quezon Province. If approved, the project would force their tribe and other non-IP residents to move elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cSome of our sacred places will also be submerged. We haven\u2019t seen the actual plans and a lot of us don\u2019t agree with this project, but they\u2019re always reporting that we already consented to it,\u201d Maria Clara said.<\/p>\n\n

The Dumagat Remontado actually experienced severe flooding last year when Daraitan was hit by Typhoon Vamco, a powerful and deadly typhoon<\/a> that inundated Metro Manila and other provinces for days. The community\u2019s indigenous beliefs guided them but in the end, they found themselves needing aid. Thankfully, many civil society organisations responded.<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
A bird flies over the Sierra Madre mountain range in Daraitan, Rizal province, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

\u201cWe had visions of when the flood would come and how big the water was going to be,\u201d said Renato Iba\u00f1ez, leader of Dumagat Remontado group SUKATAN-LN. \u201cWe were told that if at noon and the water rose- as if the wind was carrying it- that means a disaster is coming. So our elders advised us to evacuate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n


Returning the favor<\/h3>\n\n

For most of the Dumagat Remontado farmers, they had only recently heard of community pantries- a movement that started when an unassuming young citizen decided to put one up<\/a> along Maginhawa Street \u2013 an area known for restaurants and food parks. It has inspired thousands to step up, get organised, and do more for their own communities. <\/p>\n\n

\"Community
People queue to collect free food and other goods at a ‘sustainable’ community pantry in Pasig City, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Despite their ongoing legal battles and economic hardships due to the pandemic, Maria Clara said these problems will not deter the Dumagat Remontado from helping others. Their community was able to contribute to at least 10 community pantries.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe also want to show the government\u2014 or anyone who represents them in the Kaliwa Dam project\u2014 look at the food we\u2019re getting from the areas where the dam is being built. The areas you will be flooding. These can feed a lot of families,\u2019\u201d she remarked. \u201c\u2018Do you want to destroy this? Or should we support the IPs further and stop this project?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n

For their part, community pantries, such as the Sustainable Community Pantry in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig, are grateful for the vegetables the Dumagat Remontado farmers provided. \u201cWe thank the Dumagat Remontado because they are the real symbols of bayanihan <\/em>(the Filipino term for working together to help those in need) \u2013 <\/em> whatever they have, even if it was just enough, they still shared it with us,\u201d said pantry organiser Lou Mercado.<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
Volunteers also distribute reusable bags at a ‘sustainable’ food pantry in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Prior to receiving goods from the Dumagat Remontado farmers, Lou and his fellow volunteers had an ingenious way of stocking their community pantry, where dozens of people line up for help. They \u201crescue\u201d food that are still edible, but considered unsellable, from the nearby wet markets. <\/p>\n\n


Let it not go to waste<\/h3>\n\n

Maria Clara and her fellow Dumagats are happy to see their countrymen enjoy the fruits of their labor. But she hopes those who benefited from this endeavor will not let the food go to waste. \u201cDon\u2019t waste any kind of food, even one tiny piece. Because if you add all those together, they could still feed a lot of people,\u201d she said. \u201cBe thankful for the people who paved the way for community pantries because that means there are people out there who want to volunteer for their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\"Community
Women repack donated vegetables to community pantries in Manila, Philippines.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

As for Dumagat leader Renato, he sees these efforts as steps to build and solidify solidarity between the Dumagat Remontado and the city folk, and to boost the nation\u2019s spirit especially during these tough times. \u201cI told our fellow IP farmers that what we\u2019re doing is helping people– it\u2019s not just us asking for others\u2019 help. From my perspective, with this food, all of us in this country are eating as one\u2014 we\u2019re not divided, we\u2019re not fighting, and we\u2019re all dining from one table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Maverick Flores is a Communications Campaigner with Greenpeace Southeast Asia- Philippines. He advocates for indigenous peoples\u2019 rights and social justice. In his spare time, he does podcasts and plays basketball.<\/em><\/p>\n

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More than just a repository of edible goods, the community pantry has become a social phenomenon\u2014a force for good where ordinary people give and donate food to those who are hungry and hardest hit by the lockdowns and layoffs due to the pandemic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":48007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[67,84,86],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-47998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-consumption","tag-forests","tag-food","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47998"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51085,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47998\/revisions\/51085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47998"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=47998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}