Community pantries return as oil crisis squeezes drivers, commuters

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March 26, 2026 | 2:43pm

MANILA, Philippines — Five years after a small bamboo cart with fresh food stocks on Maginhawa Street inspired acts of communal welfare during the pandemic, community pantries are back, this time for drivers, riders and commuters battered by the worst fuel price spike in recent Philippine history.

Activist and artist Ana Patricia "Patreng" Non, who started the original Maginhawa Community Pantry in April 2021, announced on social media Thursday, March 26, that she had set up a new one at the corner of Maginhawa and Magiting streets in Quezon City. 

This time, the shelves are stocked specifically for drivers and riders in need.

"Habang nagtataas po ang presyo ng gas at tuloy tuloy po ang transport strikes, dating gawi po tayo para suportahan naman ang mga drivers," Non wrote on social media. 

(While gas prices are rising and transport strikes continue, we are doing our best to support drivers.)

The same familiar tagline is back: "Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan" or: Give what you can, take what you need.

A photo of the pantry shows a shelf stacked with vegetables and bags of rice, set along a sidewalk — a scene almost identical to the original 2021 setup, only the cardboard signs now read "Laban ng Drayber, Laban ng Komyuter."

In Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, resident Ermarie Fortuno has also opened a similar pantry in front of her home along the highway in Barangay Biga. "Maliit man, sana makatulong kahit papaano sa araw-araw (Even if it's small, I hope it helps with people's daily needs)," Fortuno wrote, listing rice, fruits and crackers among what she had available.

Oil crisis squeezes drivers

The pantries reappeared on the same day a second week of transport strikes kicked off, with over 20 strike centers staging protests across Metro Manila and other major cities in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The two-day nationwide strike running March 26 to 27 involves jeepney, bus, UV Express, and TNVS drivers demanding government action on fuel prices.

In the week of March 17 to 23 alone, gasoline jumped by P16.60 per liter and diesel by P23.90. Pump prices for some fuel products have crossed P100 per liter, with diesel hitting as high as P134 at certain stations.  

Oil prices have held above $100 a barrel globally driven by the ongoing conflict between US-Israel and Iran.  

The movement, while hailed by many as an act that expresses bayanihan or communal unity or welfare, was met with less enthusiasm by the government during the pandemic. At the time, the Quezon City Police District and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict baselessly linked the pantries to communist insurgents, forcing Non to temporarily shut down over safety concerns. Non eventually resumed operations.

Many of those pantries wound down as vaccines rolled out and the economy reopened after the pandemic. But Non's Maginhawa Community Pantry had eventually inspired the creation of community kitchens and other groups that led relief operations during disasters nationwide.