By Lucas Divina
Kariton, Pattuki, Kareta, Kalesa – these are collective Philippine terms of a cart. Carts have been of help to farmers since time immemorial. These carts are used to carry heavy items such as palay rice, corns, and other agricultural products throughout the archipelago.
Kariton was used by Efren Penaflorida, a CNN Hero of the Year on his education advocacy. He taught children on the streets with his Kariton Classroom. And today, in the middle of the pandemic, we see a Kareta Community Pantry going around Cataggaman Nuevo in Tuguegarao City.
COMMUNITY PANTRY MOVEMENT
A community pantry is a pantry but for a bigger user – the whole community. This movement was started by Ana Patricia Non, the founder of the Maginhawa Community Pantry. That of Maginhawa was just a simple pantry set up near the roads of Quezon City. But when netizens started to post it on their social media, people started to compliment the humble act. Donations rained on Maginhawa Community Pantry and there started the pop-out of so many pantries.
KARETA COMMUNITY PANTRY
This community pantry is a bit different from the community pantry we’ve known. It’s basically a pantry but this one is “moving”. With their Kareta (a cart pulled by a Carabao), the Kareta Community Pantry of Tuguegarao City travels around to give the people on it’s area some supplementary goods that can aid their daily needs.
INSPIRATION
We searched for traces on the person who started this unique pantry and we found Mr. Enteng Zipangan, SK Chair of Cataggaman Nuevo, Tuguegarao City. In an interview, Zipangan said on why they started the pantry, “Since I am the SK Chairman of our Barangay, the council and I decided [to] put up a Community Pantry inspired by Maginhawa Community Pantry for our constituents”. He didn’t give a clear reason on why they started the pantry but it’s very clear that they just wanted to help their community members.
“Actually lahat naman ng pantry iisa lang naman ang goal to extend goods lalo sa in need however iba ibang nalang strategy to extend the goods. I think yung paggamit kami ng karitela at kalabaw in local dialect “kareta” in support din po sa mga local farmers. In line with this, we support the #SupportLocal in order to promote cultural understanding towards one another” Zipangan added.
THE UNIQUE PANTRY
Most of the community pantries set up all over the country are static or just quartered in a single place. People are then encouraged to go out from their houses to get some goods in the pantry. However, Tuguegarao’s community pantry is different because it is a “moving” pantry.
We asked Zinpangan for the reason why they opted for a mobile community pantry. He said, “Our initial plan po talaga ay Bike with side car or kariton kaso wala po kaming mahanap na pwedeng hiraman that time. May nag passby na karitela na kasamahan ng tatay ko sa bukid yun [an]g nagbigay sakin ng idea na gumamit ng karitela since farmer ang tatay ko at may kalabaw naman po kami why not gumamit kami ng karitela as mode of transportating our goods.”
But the core reason for their mobile pantry is to prevent the influx of people on the pantry like what happened to most pantries in some areas. “We must prevent the influx of our constituents in a certain area. The team firmly agreed to follow the health protocols and quarantine guidelines. Kapag sa Barangay kasi kami magput-up dadagsain po tayo ng tao lalo na’t big Barangay tayo”
PLANS
The Tuguegarao’s Kareta Community Pantry is on its second week of operations and planning to reach out to more people as much as possible. “Thrice a week po kami nag-ooperate. Ngayon nasa 2nd week palang kami siguro. [We plan to operate] while supplies last po. As of now po marami ring mga unsolicited donors from our constituents minsan nagkukulang pero gumawa kami ng paraan para sa next pantry may magagamit kami. As much as possible, we wanted to promote social inclusivity, gusto namin na kahit papaano mareach parin namin yung ibang tao kapag nagkulang. We [will] make sure they are still with us despite the scarcity of resources. We [will] find and make ways to properly administer everyone.”
Interviewed by Carlo Joseph S. Reglos
Photos: Enteng Zipangan
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