BACOLOD City Councilor Em Ang urged the public to follow the anti-mendicancy ordinance to stop the Badjaos from loitering in various areas in the city.
“We should not tolerate the Badjaos by giving them alms because we put their lives in danger especially those children doing caroling in jeepneys,” said Ang, chairperson of committee on social services,
On Saturday, a three-year-old Badjao was injured after he was hit by a vehicle in Barangay Taculing.
The anti-mendicancy law forbids begging or soliciting of charitable donations by the poor or religious organizations in the streets.
Ang said Badjaos are seen in various areas of Bacolod every February, October, and December. They are asking for alms on streets, jeepneys, and residential areas.
She said most of the Badjaos were already identified by the city’s anti-mendicancy task force. They are from Bago and Cadiz cities.
“We should not give them alms so that they will stop loitering in the city. We can send our help through the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), institutions, and orphanages so that they will stop begging on the streets,” Ang added.
The DSSD and the anti-mendicancy task force are now conducting an operation to reach out to the Badjaos to bring them back to where they came from.
Last year, the City Government rescued about 30 Badjaos and they were sent to Iloilo City.
A member of anti-mendicancy task force, who requested anonymity, said some of the Badjaos are now armed and dangerous.
She said that even after they “rescued” a group of Badjaos last year, most of them still returned to Bacolod.
The task force is implementing City Ordinance No. 146, Series of 2005, or the Ordinance establishing an integrated program for regulating mendicancy, providing penalties.”
Those who will be caught giving alms will be fined P50.