AS THE Cebu City Government ramps up its anti-mendicancy policies, the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) has rescued 15 Badjaos and will facilitate their return to Jolo, Sulu.
Portia Basmayor, head of DSWS, told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, that 15 Badjaos are temporarily sheltered in Barangay Mambaling since their boat travel schedule to Zamboanga has been canceled.
Budget
She said the DSWS is providing food to the Badjaos with a budget of P38,000 from the City Government.
Basmayor said the budget includes bus and ship fares, as well as pocket money. She said her personnel will assist the 15 Badjaos going to the Municipality of Badian, and from there, they will take a ship to Zamboanga City.
Basmayor said the rescued Badjaos do not know how to read and write, and begging for alms has been their primary means of livelihood.
Basmayor added that her personnel have been in contact with officials in Zamboanga.
She said the 15 Badjaos were handed over by the municipality of Badian, which believed they were residents of Cebu City. A social worker from Badian coordinated with the DSWS for the return of the Badjaos as part of the municipality’s intensified anti-mendicancy campaign.
When Basmayor attempted to integrate the Badjaos into the Badjao community in Mambaling, the community declined to accept them, stating they were not part of their group.
She said the Badjaos signed an undertaking not to return to beg for alms in Cebu City. Basmayor said the rescued Badjaos were identified by DSWS. The office also informed the Cebu City Police Office for the sake of records if ever they would return to Cebu City especially since the Sinulog Festival is near.
City Ordinance 1631, or the Anti-Mendicancy Ordinance, prohibits begging or giving alms in Cebu City streets, with offenders paying a fine of P1,000 or rendering a four-hour community service.
Mendicants, according to the ordinance, refers to able-bodied persons who have no visible and legal means of support and instead use begging as a means of living. / JPS