Roxas City seeks Kalibo's help to address alarming number of Badjaos

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

                                                                              PHOTO KALIBO MDRRMO

Two weeks after government authorities in Kalibo, Aklan round up the Badjaos, some of them fled to Roxas City, Capiz to start a new life.

  

In its drive to address the proliferation of Badjaos, city officials of Roxas City recently coordinated with Kalibo mayor William Lachica to talk about what measures were implemented by the town of Kalibo to convince the Badjaos to return to their hometowns in Mindanao. 

Lachica said Task Force Badjao was created by an executive order involving the Philippine National Police, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Interior and Local Government, Municipal Legal Officer, Municipal Health Officer and members of Sangguniang Bayan to solve the increasing number of Badjaos.

“Idto nag a-eagto sa Roxas City, sa Capiz ro iba. Nahawag eon sanda sa pag-inabu it mga Badjaos ngani nag adto ro mga opisyales it Roxas City katon agud makipag-istorya kung anu gin-obra ku local government of Kalibo,” the mayor said.

                                                                     PHOTO KALIBO MDRRMO

Lachica said the city officials have observed that the number of Badjaos or nomadic dwellers multiply in the streets of Roxas City this year that prompted them to seek consultation with the local officials of Kalibo.

When the Badjaos came to Kalibo, they were seen wandering in the streets, sprawling in cardboard boxes and cooking their foods in the sidewalks and in front of business establishments at night. 

Children and elderly women were also begging for alms to fend their hunger, unmindful of the sanitation and health risks posed to residents and tourists. Some Badjao men were selling 'pearls' house-to-house to residents in the town of Kalibo.

“Iba pa karun naga perwisyo eot a sa atong motorista ag pumueoyo it Kalibo,” Lachica said.

When asked if Badjaos are still wandering the streets of Kalibo, Lachica said, "maistorya pa kita sa Philippine National Police kun may una pa nga Badjao nga ga warang iya sa Kalibo."

Sangguniang Bayan member Augusto Tolentino said a lady dispatcher of L300 vans in Roxas Avenue in Barangay Poblacion was involved in the issue of cajoling the Badjaos.

 

Before they left the town of Kalibo, some Badjaos were renting a house in Barangay  Tambak in New Washington, Aklan, some seven kms east of Kalibo while others were sleeping near a transport terminal.

The sleeping accessories were given to them by the lady dispatcher, Tolentino said, for she ‘felt pity’ of the Badjaos situation.

“Duyon ngani ro natabu, ginsakay sa public utility vans ro mga Badjaos ag kun siin gin-daea pagkatapos nga nag-monitor ro munisipyo ku andang kahimtangan,” Tolentino stressed. 

The councilor said he will also discuss with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for an enactment of ordinance to regulate the entry of IPs and all other mendicants in the town of Kalibo.