Badjao beggars in Kalibo to beg for alms, foods

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

Badjaos are coming to town.

The local police in Kalibo, Aklan is closely monitoring the proliferation of Badjaos posing as beggars in the onset of Christmas and Ati-Atihan.

Chief Inspector Al Loren Bigay, acting chief of police of Kalibo, said that there are Badjao beggars asking for alms during the holidays near the Kalibo Public Market and Gaisano Mall Kalibo.

These beggars are becoming eye sores and they are coming back in Kalibo in numbers.

Kalibo mayor William Lachica on Thursday said they will address the problem on Badjao beggars, who come all the way from Mindanao, to beg to shoppers, residents and motorists.

Lachica has formed Task Force Badjao last year by virtue of Executive Order No. 12 to address the sanitation and health risks to residents and tourists of Kalibo posed by nomadic Badjaos. These Badjaos practically live, roam and sleep in the streets and sidewalks of Kalibo on cardboards.

Aside from begging, police also received complaints of unruly behavior of Badjaos such as spitting and pinching of motorists and pedestrians.

Last month, the police and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development in Boracay Island rounded up a group of Badjaos and Aetas, some of them are children and women.

Bigay said, "the Badjaos from Boracay might had resettle in Kalibo to continue begging as a means of living."