ALL children should have parents who provide them with a roof over their heads, feed them at least three meals a day, send them to school, and basically take care of them.
But who am I kidding? That’s wishful thinking.
In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that the number of street children has risen in Barangay Sambag 1 in Cebu City.
That’s to be expected since most of them show up to take advantage of the generosity of the populace who, in the spirit of the longest Christmas season in the world, take pity on the likes of them.
However, residents have their limits.
I was recently approached by a family friend who complained that some of these children have become a nuisance.
Not only do they accost passersby, they now enter food establishments to beg for food and money. They also roam the streets unmindful of passing vehicles whose exasperated drivers have no choice but to stop and honk their horns so they would get out of the way to avoid getting hit.
But what blew my friend’s top was when some of the children created a ruckus in front of their tenant’s establishment.
Apparently, making fun of eating customers inside was not enough. They had to squat at the entrance to play a game of cards, thereby preventing people from entering and leaving.
Of course, my friend and the rest of the neighborhood are helpless against these children. The law makes sure of that.
There’s the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, Child Protection Act and the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, to mention a few. These are in place to protect minors from sexual, physical, verbal and mental abuse.
Violators face severe penalties if found guilty.
Ironically, there is no law that protects children from eking out an existence on the streets.
Their parents may be dead. Or in prison. And no one’s there to take care of them. Some of them may have even been abandoned. Or had left home to escape abuse.
Either way, I don’t think they chose to lead this kind of life.
In an ideal world, they’d be worrying about homework, or looking forward to playing with their buddies. Not eluding authorities, who “rescue” them and turn them over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which, last April, “reiterated its commitment to help protect the rights and well-being of street children.”
But from what I learned, the DSWD lacks the resources to address the problem. The agency does not have the proper facility to house “rescued” children, and it doesn’t have the budget to feed them indefinitely.
I wish I had some answers because the problem is not going anywhere.