With the onset of the Christmas season, Badjaos in droves are a familiar sight once again in Metro Manila. These lowly Badjaos are out in the streets all over the city begging for alms for their daily subsistence. Commuters can see them leapfrogging from one jeepney to the other in total disregard for their safety just to beg.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development should dissuade them from begging and help them to return to Sulu and Zamboanga in Mindanao. Most of them are willing to go back, but they don’t have the means such as transportation fares, food and livelihood to start a new life.
In the spirit of Christmas, let’s extend a helping hand to this ethnic minority in our society in far-flung Mindanao.
PEDRO V. REFUERZO JR., jn_refuerzo@yahoo.com