Dinky Soliman: Family camp for homeless meant to clear streets during papal visit

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon ‘Dinky’ Soliman admitted Tuesday that bringing some of Metro Manila's street dwellers to a resort in Batangas for a ‘family camp’  was part of the effort the clear Roxas Boulevard during the visit of Pope Francis in the country.

 

“Hindi namin ipinagkakaila yun na bahagi ng effort ng  lokal na pamahalaan na nung nag- ugnayan kami imbes na dalhin sila sa facilties na masisikip na, pagkakataon ito para marehistro sila sa programa (ng modified conditional cash transfer),” Soliman told the Senate committee on social justice welfare and rural development.

 

“Hindi namin idine-deny na ang effort na gawing maayos ang Roxas Boulevard ay bahagi ho ito, kami ay nakipag ugnayan para madala sila sa proseso ng pagrerehistro,” she added, in response to suggestions that the homeless were brought to the resort to keep them out of sight during the five-day papal visit.

 

The DSWD earlier claimed that the street dwellers were taken off Roxas Boulevard to attend the annual outing for the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) program held at Chateau Royale Sports and Country Club in Nasugbu, Batangas.

 

Catherine Scerri, deputy director of Bahay Tuluyan, said the outing was done to hide the street dwellers from Pope Francis. 
 

Despite their political differences, Senator Nancy Binay and Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano were together in probing the reported rounding up of street dwellers and bringing them to a resort in Batangas during the visit of Pope Francis in the country.

 

Binay, the chairman of the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural developmentat, at the start of the hearing  acknowledged the presence of Cayetano who introduced bills on the welfare and protection of the orphaned, abandoned, neglected, and voluntarily committed children.

 

Also present during the hearing were the management of Chateau Royale Sports and Country Club, and Scerri.

Cayetano, one of the staunch critics of Vice President Jejomar Binay, the senator’s father, is one of three senators looking into the alleged graft activities of the opposition leader when he was mayor of Makati.

The Vice President during hearings of the Blue Ribbon Subcommittee was accused of involvement in the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II and the Makati Science High School, bid rigging, receiving of kickbacks and owning several properties not declared on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.

 

The older Binay denied the allegations saying these were part of an operation to diminish his chances in the 2016 presidential elections.

 

Cayetano has also expressed willingness to seek the highest elected post in the country. —NB, GMA News