CEBU City’s Anti-Mendicancy Board is undergoing a revamp after the death of a street dweller on the sidewalk after she refused medical treatment offered to her.
New board members and chairperson are set to be installed, said Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia in a press conference on Monday, August 19, 2024, at the Cebu City Hall.
Garcia said that he is doing this revamping to the board in order to look at the problems well, such as those of pregnant street dwellers.
He said this revamping is for them to give solutions to the problem and to provide recommendations.
Garcia promised to give a more concrete picture of the solution after he gets to talk with the new Anti-Mendicancy Board.
“It’s a very deep problem, and it’s a case-to-case basis,” he added.
In a follow-up phone interview on Tuesday, August 20, Garcia said there is a need to revamp the board as he has to look at its composition first.
“Considering nga mga appointees pa man na ni Mayor Mike Rama, and then tan-awon nako if they are effective (Considering that they are appointees of Mayor Mike Rama, and I will also see to it if they are effective),” he said.
He added that there are a lot of incidents that had happened already with the street dwellers “mushrooming” within the city.
He also said that he is still not yet sure if he will change the whole board members or only change the chairman, who will seat as his representative.
Garcia said that as noticed, the street dwellers are not just from outside Cebu, as some are residents of Cebu who prefer to stay on the streets.
In a previous SunStar report, Garcia said that the acting city administrator had already issued a memo to conduct the investigation on the death of the street dweller.
“Mohuwat na lang gyud ta sa (We’ll wait for the) formal investigation gikan sa (from the) City Legal Office before we can make any conclusion,” said Garcia.
He said that there is also a problem on the halfway house, which is located in Barangay Taptap, a mountain area in Cebu City. The halfway house was intended to serve as home for street dwellers.
"Tinuod tong giingon ni Ma’am Portia nga naa tay halfway house pero its all the way at Taptap and then atong street dwellers naa ra man jud diri sa syudad," said Garcia.
(What Ma’am Portia said was true that we have a halfway house but it’s in Taptap and our street dwellers are just here in the city.)
Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) head Portia Basmayor had said that to address the mendicancy issue in Cebu City, a temporary house was built in Barangay Taptap for the street dwellers.
She said their office provides food, livelihood opportunities, and fare for street dwellers who want to go home.
However, Basmayor pointed out that not all street dwellers are homeless.
“Bisag naa pa silay mga balay diri sa Cebu City, mugawas gyud sila para mangayo (Even if they have houses in Cebu City, they still go out on the streets to beg),” she said.
She added that it is evident they prefer to live on the streets.
“Bisag sige tag-implement, dad-on sila didto, manglakaw gyud. Ang uban mang hitch og sakyanan para lang maabot sa ubos,” said Basmayor.
(Even if we rescue them and bring them to Taptap, they leave. Others would hitch to get to the uptown and downtown areas.)
She said the facility in Taptap has 19 vacant rooms to hold families.
She added that they are still renovating the area to make it livable.
Basmayor said the City Government has a budget for their food and livelihood training. (JPS)