Thursday, January 11, 2007 Cebu City sending vagrants home
FOR the measly income they earn from street vending, the Salazar couple wanted to make the sidewalk on Escario St., Cebu City their home.
But today, as some of Southeast Asia’s leaders begin to arrive in Cebu, the Salazars and 15 other families will board the ships that will take them to their home provinces.
The Cebu City Government has set aside P100,000 for the “Balik Probinsya” program, which was strictly implemented in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit this week.
The street families were offered P5,000 each to encourage them to get off the sidewalks and instead go back to their hometowns.
Manuel Salazar, 47, said he would have wanted to remain in Cebu so he can sell toys during the Sinulog. But to avoid getting in trouble with authorities, he and his wife decided to accept City Hall’s offer.
The couple has been living on the sidewalk beside Tanchan Building on Escario St. for the last four years. Tonight, they will go home to Dumaguete City.
“Dili unta ko ganahan muuli kay nianhi mi sa Cebu para mamaligya. Ig abot namo didto, wala gyud mi pangita. Mao lang nang storyaha, mamalik lang gihapon mi diri kay naa gud diri among panginabuhi (We came to Cebu to sell things. When we go back home, we won’t have any means of making a living. We’ll probably end up returning here),” he said yesterday.
But those who will accept City Hall’s financial assistance had better think twice about coming back to live on Cebu City’s sidewalks.
Betty Ganub of the Cebu City Anti-Mendicancy Task Force warned the families yesterday that they will be forced to file a complaint against them for violating the Anti-Mendicancy Law if they insist on coming back.
Instead of accepting the money from City Hall, Salazar asked if they can keep the financial assistance so they can use it to pay for rent.
“Dili gyud na mahimo kay mubalik ra gihapon na sila sa dan. (We won’t allow that. They’ll only end up back on the streets again.) The money will help them start a livelihood when they return to their hometowns. Once we’ve assisted them, they can’t go back to the sidewalk, otherwise we will be forced to file a case against them, especially if they beg in the streets,” Ganub said.
At least 16 families have volunteered to leave the sidewalks, skywalks and public parks to return to their home provinces tonight.
They came from as far as Catbalogan in Samar, Palo in Leyte, Ormoc City, Dipolog City, Siquijor and Quiapo in Manila.
“Dili na gyud mo sugtan mopuyo sa sidewalk, labi na karon na naay Asean summit kay naa tay mga bisita, aron sad sila makaingon na gwapo ang atong syudad ug maganahan sila mubalik diri (You will not be allowed to live on the sidewalk again, especially now that the Asean summit has started. We want our visitors to see how pleasant our city is, so they’ll want to come back),” Ganub told the street families yesterday.
The task force itself will buy the non-refundable boat tickets and will provide each family with bags of rice, canned goods and other grocery items for them to bring home.
