EDITORIAL - Another area Osmeña should also prioritize

Once he assumes office as Cebu City's next chief executive, one of Tomas Osmeña's priorities is to launch an intensified campaign against criminality. For him, bringing back peace and order is vital in the effort to regain public confidence.

Right after he won in the mayoralty election, Osmeña promised at least P50,000 to anyone from the city's police force and the public who can kill or injured a criminal. And he had already given a cash reward to a policeman who shot and injured two suspected jeepney robbers, and to a police team that neutralized a suspected big-time drug dealer.

While many have applauded his aggressive move against criminality, there's also another area that the former mayor and congressman should also need to prioritize. And this area has something to do with the pestering problem on street kids and other street dwellers.

For the past years, the number of street kids and sidewalk dwellers has increased due largely to City Hall's seeming lack of attention to their plight. This problem has also led to the rising cases of petty crimes in the city.

In fact, many tourists in the uptown area have already complained about being victimized by these street kids, who would swarm them pretending to beg for alms but end up stealing their money and other things. There are even reports that these street kids are being protected by crime syndicates.

It's unfortunate that the city government, for the past years, has been remiss in giving assistance to those street dwellers. Yes it has a program that would encourage those homeless in the city to return to their farm in the provinces. But the problem is that such initiative has never been properly implemented.

With the change soon taking over the City Hall, new officials should immediately address the problem on the homeless people if they want the campaign against criminality to succeed.