Some street dwellers say extreme poverty, not syndicates, drove them to beg for alms

Some street dwellers begging for alms said they were not recruited by syndicates to beg in Metro Manila’s streets – and that extreme poverty and hunger forced them to do so.

In Maki Pulido’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, Aiza, a member of an indigenous tribe, said she came here from Lucena City in Quezon with her husband and three children.

Aiza said she works as a street vendor back home and that she only came to the big city to beg for alms so that she could raise money and buy items in Quiapo, Manila that she can resell in Lucena City.

“Ang mga iba po ma’am, hindi naman sila po nagbibigay. Opo ma’am, minsan nagsasabi rin sila masama, ‘O, malaki ang katawan mo, magtrabaho ka.’ Siyempre po masakit ‘yun sa amin,” she said.

(Some don’t give us anything. Sometimes they say hurtful things, ‘You have a big body, you should work.’ Of course that is hurtful to us.)

Aiza said she and her family were not brought to Metro Manila by any syndicate, contrary to the belief that syndicates recruit people to beg in the streets.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) clarified that they don’t have any direct information that syndicates are behind the street dwellers who beg for alms, but assured that they will coordinate with other government agencies if they receive such reports.

“Walang personal knowledge ang DSWD that there are groups or individuals na nagdadala ng mga families. But if in case may malaman kami, we will immediately report this to the law enforcement agencies. Kasi ang focus ng DSWD is on social welfare,” said DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao.

(The DSWD does not have personal knowledge that there are groups or individuals who bring these families. But in case we learn something, we will immediately report this to the law enforcement agencies. Because the DSWD’s focus is on social welfare.)

Aiza said they would run away when social workers approach them, but the DSWD said street dwellers have nothing to fear as social workers won’t force them to come along.

Dumlao said street dwellers and families in street situations are brought to the Pag-Abot Processing Center at the Nasdake Building in Pasay City, which used to be a POGO hub but was transformed into a shelter.

“So mayroon sila doon matutulugan, makakainan. They could, in fact, stay there for quite some time,” Dumlao said.

(They have a place to sleep and eat there. They could, in fact, stay there for quite some time.)

At the Pag-Abot Processing Center, the DSWD’s social workers interview street dwellers to determine what intervention is best for them so that they won’t have to go back to the streets.

“Help us reach out to them by informing us kung saan niyo sila nakita. We’ll go to them, we’ll reach out to them and we’ll bring them to the processing center,” Dumlao said.

(Help us reach out to them by informing us where you saw them last. We’ll go to them, we’ll reach out to them and we’ll bring them to the processing center.)

Aiza said she hopes to receive assistance from the government so that she can finally stop begging for alms.

“Ang gusto namin, bigyan sila po kami ng pangkabuhayan. Pag gusto nila, huwag kami na sa tabi-tabi,” she said.

(We hope they could give us something for our livelihood, if they want us off the streets.) — JMA, GMA Integrated News