Pandemics, Pantries and Politics: Understanding the emergence of community pantries in the Philippines in the time of COVID-19

This qualitative research, which used in-depth interview as the main data collection method, offers new and interesting information about the community pantry phenomenon in the Philippines that emerged in the time of COVID-19. It provides a fresh perspective on how individuals, groups and communities collectively take new shapes and actions during a pro-tracted crisis situation, focusing mainly on community pantries located in the National Cap-ital Region. It utilized framing analysis, social movement-related concepts of motivation, solidarity and the Filipino trait of ‘Bayanihan’, and resource mobilization theory as analytical tools to explain why COVID-19 is both a public health problem and governance issue, what moti-vates people from participating in the community pantry initiative, how community pantries are organized and operate locally, what they represent, the issues pantry organizers encounter and the prospects for community pantries in the future.