BACOLOD City – Almost 30 Badjaos, adults and children, were rounded up by social welfare and police personnel in this city as part of the city government’s anti-mendicancy campaign.
These Badjaos, also known as “sea gypsies,” come from settlements in the cities of Victorias and Sagay in northern Negros Occidental.
Ma. Socorro Detangco, coordinator of the Bacolod City Anti-Mendicancy Task Force, said on Thursday they brought them back to the two cities on Wednesday night.
Those rounded up belonged to eight families.
Detangco said personnel of the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) monitored two groups of Badjaos asking for alms on the streets and in jeepneys.
Those brought home were loitering in the downtown area and near the Libertad South Market.
“People have been complaining of them begging inside jeepneys. This pose risk especially to the children,” Detangco said.
She appealed to Bacolodnons not to give alms to discourage these groups from coming to the city, where they see the people as generous towards them.
In fact, Detangco said they have recovered two money transfer receipts from those rounded up, showing that they sent about P38,000 in cash to certain recipients in Mindanao only in November and December.
After they were rescued by personnel of the DSSD and the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Women and Children Protection Desk on Wednesday, they were brought to the police headquarters for a dialogue and feeding program. Later that day, social welfare personnel brought them home to Victorias and Sagay.
Chief Inspector Sherlock Gabana, public information officer of BCPO, said they launched the operation with the DSSD in response to the numerous complaints on the presence of these groups in the streets.
“This (begging on the streets) exposes them to accidents and bodily hazards,” he added. (PNA)
