More PH-inspired community pantries open in Timor-Leste

MANILA – The “bayanihan” spirit is spreading in Timor-Leste three days after a team of Filipino diplomats and Timorese nationals set up their own Philippines-inspired community pantry in Dili.

“Today is just Day 3 and we’ve received news of pantries opening up in the neighboring district of Viqueque and soon in Audian. We’ve also started receiving more donations/pledges, show of interest, and queries on this initiative,” Philippine Embassy in Timor-Leste Vice Consul Laser Blitz Sumagaysay said in a Facebook post on Friday.

A team of Filipino diplomats and some Timorese nationals led by Sumagaysay on April 21 put up their own community pantry inspired by a project that started in Quezon City.

From their own pockets and donations, the team’s pantry was able to provide food for 100 to 120 locals.

Sumagaysay said the initiative has also served as a venue for information dissemination on what Philippine “bayanihan” is all about and how it relates to a community pantry, a relatively new concept in the country.

“While the initiative is largely inspired by the current Philippine community trend, we would like to share that the purpose of our initiative here in Timor-Leste is not solely about humanitarian assistance but also, and aptly so given our location and professional mission, diplomacy,” he said.

“Sharing one of the Philippines’ best cultural practices in the form of the ‘Bayanihan’ brand and spirit, and purposely linking it with the selfless concept of the community pantry, is in view of contributing something meaningful and truly Filipino to this side of Southeast Asia.”

Although there’s no definite schedule as to when it will open again, Sumagaysay said his team would like to continue the pantry they piloted.

In the meantime, his team would like to shift donations to other new community pantries “so it would eventually be Timorese to Timorese but Philippine-inspired.”

“For the coming days, we’re expecting a number of confirmed openings also,” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

“Unlike sa Pilipinas na instantly trending ang community pantries (Unlike in the Philippines where community pantries trended instantly), it’s still a much unfamiliar if not, until recently, unheard of concept here. It would be up to the success of info dissemination and the reception of the bigger Timorese population.”

He said his team is willing to guide and provide support to other communities that would set up their own pantries in Timor-Leste.