The City Social Welfare and Development office is discouraging the public not to give alms to beggars as this is against the law and begging on the streets endangers their lives.
City Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO) Betty Fangasan made this call especially that Christmas season is approaching and the number of mendicants begging in the streets in this mountain resort city also increases.
Fangasan said these mendicants come from the nearby provinces and regions, as well as from an ethnic group from the far south. They come to the city to ask for alms as early as September and usually lasts up to May. They can earn as much as P600.00 daily from begging, she disclosed.
‘There is a law that says we should not give money to beggars, but it is really difficult to implement and impose penalties even as we closely coordinate with other private and government sector partners like the transportation sector”, she said.
Fangasan shared that some of these beggars charter vans to ferry their entire family to the City to beg as bus companies have refused them rides.
Fangasan said the only way to stop these people from coming back to Baguio to beg for a living is for the public not to give money. She added that other cities in the country do not tolerate the practice of these ethnic groups who make a living out of begging not only because it is against the law, but mainly because begging on the street endangers their lives.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan has created an inter-agency task force composed of the police, the government and private sector representatives, including the Commission on Human Rights to look after the plight of these beggars, especially these groups who beg on the streets as families, even letting older children to carry babies with them.
CSWDO records show that more than 100 alleged Badjaos come to the city to beg during the Yuletide season. (JDP/JBZ PIA CAR)
