The Quezon City Police District on Tuesday apologized to the organizers of community pantries following their social media post supposedly red-tagging the volunteers.
In a statement, QCPD District Director Brigadier General Antonio Yarra said he does not and will never allow red-tagging.
“QCPD does not and will never allow alleged red-tagging…We are now reaching out with the organizer/outlet manager as the QCPD is very much willing to support the noble cause especially in this time of pandemic,” the statement read.
“The QCPD expresses sincere apology particularly to the affected party for the inconvenience that the inadvertent post could have caused and reassured of her safety and protection,” it added.
QCPD said the post originated from the Facebook page of youth organization Peace Philippines whose legitimacy is still being verified.
The post has since been deleted on their Facebook page, however, a screenshot of it was shared on social media by the organizer of the Maginhawa community pantry, Ana Patricia Non.
Non was the one who started the community pantry initiative in Maginhawa Street in Quezon City. Since then, dozens of community pantries were already put up across the country for Filipinos who are in need amid this coronavirus pandemic.
(screenshot of the post shared by the QCPD on their Facebook page)[/caption]
The alleged red-tagging prompted Non and others volunteers to temporarily suspend the operations of the community pantry on Tuesday for their safety.
In a Facebook post, young entrepreneur and lead organizer Ana Patricia Non sought help from Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte for her personal security after 3 police officers have asked for her contact number and to which organization she belonged.
“Hindi magandang balita. Bukas po pause po muna ang #MaginhawaCommunityPantry para sa safety po namin ng mga volunteers. Malungkot po dahil hindi muna maipapamahagi ang goods na inihanda namin buong maghapon dahil po sa #RedTagging na nagaganap,” Non said.
READ: Maginhawa community pantry halts operations due to red-tagging
Non also shared screenshots of some posts linking community pantries across the country to the Communist Party of the Philippines’ New People’s Army and the communist umbrella organization National Democratic Front.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte later issued a statement where she assured Non and other similar individuals that the local government supports such initiatives.
“I would like to personally assure Ms. Ana Patricia Non and other like-minded individuals that the local government of Quezon City fully supports Community Pantries,” Belmonte said.
