Street carolers alarm metro execs

CEBU, Philippines – “Ate, kuya, ayaw hugawa inyong huna-huna. Di mi mga tulisan, di sab mi nga kawatan. Maayo nalang ning among gibuhat kaysa mangawat. Let’s go, here we go…”

After this swift introduction, carolers then perform a rap song that can easily pass for a legit album to an unsuspecting person.

If only not for the location — the song is performed inside a moving jeepney — and the often suspicious looking faces of the performers, passengers would have thought the whole thing is a beautiful show of talent.

But more often, passengers are scared than entertained by these street carolers, says retail store worker Jimly Baro, 23, who travels through the busy streets of Cebu City every working day.

Baro told The FREEMAN that together with several passengers, she had experienced being sung to inside the jeepney by a duo of young men who then asked for money after.

She recalls that some passengers handed a few coins to them but they only did so to keep the carolers from being provoked and swayed to “doing trouble.”

Baro says in some instances, carolers come in the form of very young kids, the age of six to ten. These kids, according to Baro, normally do not pose as much threat as do skinny, teenage boy rappers whose dispositions Baro describes as that of a “drug addict.”

Alarmed

The increasing number of street carolers has alarmed officials of some local government units in Metro Cebu.

Isabelita “Betty” Ganub, executive director of the Cebu City Anti-Mendicancy Task Force, said, “Dili g’yud ni mawala ang mga makililimos kun duna pa gihapo’y mga tawo nga manghatag og kwarta kanila diha sa karsada.”

Ganub, in an interview, said the task force had already noted that the number of street dwellers, which include candle vendors, beggars and other mendicants, already reached 1,339 as of December 2013. She said this usually happens as the Christmas season is approaching.

“Daghan na kaayo kanila ang among gipang-rescue ug gikuha diha sa karsada, gitugyan namo sa mga opisyal sa barangay apan buhian ra man sab lagi. Diha mi gipanghatud balik sa  probinsya nga ilang gigikanan apan mobalik ra gihapon,” she said.

Mandaue City officials admitted that these carolers are also common in their major streets, but they claimed that many of these carolers came from other places.

Mayor Jonas Cortes said these children should not stay in the streets as they are exposed to a lot of danger and security threats in these areas.

What the law says

Presidential Decree 1563 was issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos in June 11, 1978 to “control and eradicate mendicancy and providing penalties” against violators. This was, however, not strictly implemented by authorities.

The Anti-Mendicancy Law of 1978 applies to mendicants of all ages, including infants or children who are eight years old and below, found begging and the parents of exploited infants and children.

“Mendicancy breeds crime, creates traffic hazards, endangers health and exposes mendicants to indignities and degradation,” the law states.

Section 4 of the Anti-Mendicancy Law provides that infants or children below eight years old who are found begging or being used by a mendicant for purposes of begging shall be “rescued” as a neglected child under the Child and Youth Welfare Code.

The law further provides that these children shall be brought immediately to the custody and care of the Department of Social Services and Development now called Department of Social Welfare and Development.

DSWD Information Officer Kerwin Macopia earlier said the Department of Social Welfare and Services in Cebu City headed by Ester Concha has been alerted already by DSWD Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat about the increasing number of beggars and mendicants in the city.

Macopia said while the law provides that the apprehended or rescued beggars and mendicants shall be brought to DSWD, such work has been devolved already to the local government units.

“Kun dili na g’yud nila makaya, anha pa diha nga kami sa DSWD mo-come in ug motabang kanila,” Macopia said.

But Senior Police Officer 2 Egmedio Felisan, head of the Cebu City Police Office police community relations section, once observed that the city does not have a center where the rescued mendicants and exploited children can be housed.

There is a so-called Cebu City Community Scout Center and the Parian Drop-in Center where child beggars and mendicants are being cared for, but it cannot accommodate many persons, he said.

In Lapu-Lapu City, Mayor Paz Radaza said the City Social Welfare Office has been tasked to implement the program of the city government that will address the issue of begging and street caroling in public conveyances.

Meanwhile,  Mayor Cortes said the Hope of Mandaue Enhanced Children’s Center was constructed to house street children, including carolers. The center serves shelter to abandoned, neglected and abused children.

The two-story building is located in a 3,200-square meter lot owned by the city government cost P8 million.