Community pantries aren’t glorifying ‘Filipino resiliency’ – they’re doing the opposite
Filipino resiliency. God, I hate that word.
Resilience always felt like ‘Hey, congrats on surviving your sh*tty conditions. Now do it all over again for the rest of your life.’ It reminds me of families picking up the pieces of a home shattered by a typhoon. A man and his dog stuck on the roof while getting battered by the storm. Or communities trekking through dangerous mountainsides just to reach the nearest hospital.
‘Resilience’ is a consolation prize for when those in charge opt to let the people sit out in the rain, as opposed to buying them an umbrella or a roof to hide under. It reeks of inaction and complacency since, as Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ian Malcolm puts it, ‘Filipinos, uh, find a way.’
Maginhawa’s community pantry initiative is close to being the poster child of this narrative. Born out of an act of kindness by entrepreneur Patricia Non, the idea is simple enough: Here are a bunch of basic necessities. Take what you need and give what you can.
This movement has since spread like a virus, if viruses actually did some good. From Quezon City to Nueva Ecija, there is no shortage of stories of people actually buying into this unselfish idea. It’s a refreshing bit of good news in an otherwise dour climate.
Unsurprisingly, this well-intentioned initiative became political. Critics saw the community pantries as indicative of the government’s failure to alleviate the suffering of its citizens. When asked about the criticism, Malacañang shrugged it off, saying that it instead ‘shows the best [of Filipinos] during the worst of times.’
‘We disagree. This shows na bayanihan ang umiiral, hindi bangayan’, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
But what seems lost on Roque is that this Bayanihan – on this scale – wouldn’t have happened if the government’s relief initiatives didn’t have their shortcomings. Filipinos coming out to ‘show their best’ is a cool sentiment and all, but it is also a response to inadequacy.
And this brings us to the overarching point: community pantries have the potential to be used as a consolation prize, another excuse to glorify ‘Filipino resilience‘. But I, for one, won’t let it be.
Instead of looking at it through rose-colored glasses, I choose to see the movement as Filipinos deciding to do something about their situation when no one else will. It’s the opposite of ‘resilience’, where we resign to endure and accept things for the way they are.
Community pantries are proof that when push comes to shove, we will instead choose to take action. Instead of waiting to be rescued, we will actually build the goddamn boat to save ourselves and others.
The post <b> Community pantries aren’t glorifying ‘Filipino resiliency’ – they’re doing the opposite </b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.
Source: we the pvblic
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