Filipino food banks are accused of communist sympathies

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST covid-19 have constricted the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos. So a recent sprouting of hundreds of local food banks meant to keep their hunger at bay should, on the face of it, be widely welcome. Instead, it has stirred up a storm of political controversy. Lieutenant-General Antonio Parlade, a leading defender of the Philippine state against communist rebels, denounced the food banks, called community pantries, as the work of the devil. The general’s suspicion that communist plotters are behind the food banks may seem far-fetched. But the pantries are nonetheless a threat to elected politicians, who would prefer to preserve a monopoly on handing out goodies to voters near election time.