ILOILO City – Some eight months after they were rounded up and shipped back to Mindanao, the Badjaos have returned to this city and resumed their mendicancy.
At least 27 Badjaos were monitored in the districts of La Paz and Mandurriao, according to the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) of the city government.
“Eighty percent” of these Badjao were the mendicants that were sent home last year, said PSTMO chief Jeck Conlu.
Begging and giving alms to beggars are punishable under City Regulation Ordinance 2002-400.
Mendicants are liable to fines of P500, imprisonment of not more than a year, or both fine and imprisonment. On the other hand, giving to beggars is punishable by a fine of P500 or community service.
On Nov. 10, 2017 Mayor Jose Espinosa III ordered the PSTMO to round up the roaming Badjaos and deport them to Mindanao.
“Kadamo sang higko nga ginahimo nila (They are dirtying the city),” said Espinosa who admitted that regulating the entry of Badjaos to the city would be difficult.
According to Conlu, inclement weather these past few days prevented the PSTMO from rounding up the Badjaos.
But he admitted his office could not stop the Badjaos from returning to the city.
“Ma-violate naton ang ila right to travel,” he said.
The Badjaos, widely known as “sea gypsies”, are an ethnic group scattered along the coastal areas of Tawi Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, and some coastal municipalities of Zamboanga del Sur in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Conlu said PSTMO would seek the help of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“They defecate anywhere. Public health and sanitation are being compromised,” said Espinosa.
Conflict in Mindanao between Muslim separatists and government troops have forced many of the Badjaos to seek refuge elsewhere.
“Kun mangayo-ngayo sila nagapamilit pa kag nagapamutong, so kalaw-ay gid (They force people to give them alms, it’s so disgusting),” said Espinosa last year.
In previous years, according to the mayor, mendicant Badjaos had “sponsors” or people backing them up and to whom they shared a portion of the alms collected.
“I don’t know if they still practice this scheme,” he said.
Under City Regulation Ordinance 2002-400, any person, syndicate or group who utilize and exploit minors, disabled and infirm persons in the mendicancy trade shall suffer a penalty of P2,000 in fine and imprisonment of not less than two months.
In 2005 during the administration of then mayor Mansueto Malabor, the city government created Task Force Badjao to help the Badjaos return to Mindanao.
The Badjaos, however, kept on returning to the city.
Aside from City Regulation Ordinance 2002-400, Presidential Decree (PD) 1563 also prohibits mendicancy. It defines a mendicant as any person who has no visible and legal means of support, or lawful employment and who is physically able to work but neglects to apply himself to some lawful calling and instead uses begging as a means of living.
The decree applies to all mendicants, and exploited infants or children who are eight years old and below.
Minors found begging are covered by PD 603 of the Child and Youth Welfare Code. Parents of exploited infants and children are also criminally liable under Article 59 and 60 of PD 603./PN
