No Blame Game, Quezon City Issues Guidelines After Man Dies At Angel Locsin’s Community Pantry

The Philippine National Police is investigating the death of a senior citizen at the community pantry of actress Angel Locsin set up on Friday, April 23, but Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) stressed on Saturday, April 24 that it is too early to tell if anyone could be held liable for the incident.

DILG spokesman Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said while Locsin had no intention to cause problems, there should be an investigation as someone died.

“Meron po kasing namatay so it is now incumbent upon the PNP (Philippine National Police) to investigate the matter and find out kung meron liability and sino man,” he told dxMM Teleradyo.

Based on his conversation with Barangay Holy Spirit chairman Felicito Valmocina, Malaya said Locsin's representatives only requested two village watchmen as security.

“The impression na nakuha nung barangay is maliit lamang itong ipamimigay,” Malaya disclosed.

However, thousands went to Locsin's community pantry after she made an announcement about it on her Facebook page. Physical distancing and other public health and safety standards were no longer observed.

Malaya said people outside of Quezon City trooped to the community pantry.

Rolando dela Cruz, 67, died while waiting in line at Locsin's community pantry in Barangay Holy Spirit which she organized to celebrate her 36th birthday to help poor families who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dela Cruz  was declared dead on arrival at the East Avenue Medical Center, Quezon City Police District Station 14 commander Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bilaro said.

“The victim fainted while waiting for his turn at the community pantry,” Bilaro said in a Viber message.

In the wake of the incident, Malaya urged community pantry organizers to coordinate with their barangays so that local officials can deploy watchmen and police officers can help them secure their activities.

“Nasa kanila 'yung responsibility to coordinate with the barangays,” he said.

No blame game

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, in an interview with “The Chiefs” on One News / TV5 on Friday said she is not blaming Locsin for what had happened but noted the actress did not coordinate with the local government unit (LGU).

The mayor added Locsin thought her team could handle the situation.

“What she did was that she posted a [Facebook] post (the day before) where she talked about community pantry and inviting everybody to come. But I think, you know, sometimes si Angel, siguro (maybe) she doesn’t realize the level of celebrity she stands for,” Belmonte said.

“She felt that her team could already handle the arrival of the people. She did not coordinate with the barangay, she did not coordinate with the local government, she did not coordinate with the police, and that was the main problem,” she added.

But Belmonte emphasized, “I don’t want to blame Angel. I like Angel, she has a very good heart. Nobody wanted what happened.”

The mayor, who admitted that Locsin’s community pantry was a super spreader event, said he was advised by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to conduct contact tracing considering that not everyone who went to the pantry were from Quezon City alone.

“It’s a super spreader event if there is such a thing here of that nature, and people were really close to one another,” Belmonte said. “Earlier, I had a talk with Secretary Duque about it and he said ‘Joy, just go and do some antigen testing randomly because we have to find and detect these people who may have contracted COVID.”

Belmonte also said the city would shoulder Dela Cruz’s burial expenses and extend financial assistance to his family.

She also reminded community pantry organizers to practice foresight in pursuit of kind and compassionate activities, requesting them to coordinate with local officials who can assist in crowd control.

DILG Eduardo Año likewise echoed Belmonte’s sentiment, saying that community pantry organizers can tap the LGU and the Philippine National Police for crowd control.

“It's the organizer's responsibility to impose the minimum health standards. That's the primary reason why they have to coordinate with the LGUs so that the latter can provide assistance,” Año said.

Apologies

Locsin apologized to those who were affected, stressing that it was never her intention as she only wanted to help people during her birthday.

“We started organized. Although there was a long queue, the people were practicing social distancing,” she added in Filipino.

At some point, however, she said some people who did not receive stubs jumped the line, resulting in the crowding and lack of social distancing that were caught in photos.

“For those who were affected, I am sorry. This is not our intention and whatever preparations we made to avoid this were not able to control (the people),” she added.

The actress also apologized to those who were not able to receive aid, saying they would instead send the donations that remain to people and community pantries in the area.

Locsin also said sorry to the family of dela Cruz, a balut vendor who reportedly waited as early as 3 a.m. hoping to get food assistance from the actress.

The actress bared that Dela Cruz had a heated argument with someone who jumped the line at the community pantry.

Locsin said she personally spoke with Dela Cruz’s children at the hospital and would forever be sorry for what happened for the rest of her life. “At habang buhay po ako hihingi ng patawad sa kanila,” Locsin posted on social media.

“Ang nangyari po ay akin pong pagkakamali. Sana po’y wag madamay ang ibang community pantries na maganda po ang nangyari (What happened earlier was my fault. I hope the event won’t cause harm to other community pantries who have great initiatives),” Locsin said. “Sa ngayon po (For now), I will prioritize helping the family and I will make it my responsibility to help them get through this.”

The family of Dela Cruz assured the actress that they are not blaming her for what happened.

Guidelines issued

The Quezon City government has approved the guidelines for the establishment of community pantries to ensure that social distancing and other health protocols are followed.

While no permit or clearance shall be required for a community pantry to operate, Belmonte encouraged persons or groups to give a written notice and coordinate with the barangay if they intend to set up and operate one.

“The city wholeheartedly supports such endeavors, as they promote the spirit of civic-mindedness or bayanihan and help ease the economic difficulties related to the pandemic. Further, community pantries may be deemed humanitarian activities providing essential goods, which are allowed under quarantine guidelines,” read the guidelines.

The guidelines were finalized during a meeting between local officials and Maginhawa community pantry organizer Ana Patricia Non on Friday.

Under the guidelines, the pantry organizers and the barangay may coordinate regarding reasonable crowd control measures, such as setting a cut-off time for persons in a queue, limiting the number of persons served in a day or for certain time periods and using marshals to enforce health protocols and prevent overcrowding.

Attendants and staff of the community pantry must wear face masks and face shields and encourage patrons to at least wear face masks before they can get free commodities.

“The community pantry should avoid blocking any road or sidewalk,” read the guidelines. “In this regard, the pantry may coordinate with the barangay to minimize disruption to traffic. Also, the barangay and pantry may coordinate to relocate the pantry to an alternative venue to better serve its beneficiaries, or to accommodate a greater number of persons.”

A one-meter distance among patrons must be enforced, with patrons prohibited from unnecessarily touching or handling items on display to avoid the spread of the virus.

Eating or drinking is prohibited in the vicinity of the community pantry.

Pantry operators were also asked to maintain cleanliness in their immediate vicinity by properly disposing of cartons, plastic bags, ecobags or other containers, food scraps and waste.

Addressing incidents of people taking more than their fair share, the guidelines stated that community pantries “are encouraged to adopt a system to mitigate abuse or hoarding. For ex-ample, the pantries have the option to impose item limits per person or household; provide service only to bona fide local residents; use a points system, stubs or coupons to apportion goods; or limit the use of sacks or containers.”

The guidelines maintained that law enforcers shall refrain from intervening except in cases of manifest breach of health or safety protocols.

Belmonte said from at least 70, there are now 138 community pantries established all over the city, replicating the initiative started by Non.