by Joseph Arnel Deliverio
Sibugay Express
Seven impoverished Badjao families have made the streets of Ipil their home after fleeing Maluso town in Basilan to avoid what they said was harassment and terrorism by sea pirates and poachers.
They have been fending off hunger by begging alms from residents at the junction of the roads leading to Pagadian, Dipolog and Zamboanga cities.
Mendicant Badjaos have become a constant picture in the cities of Mindanao, but it is only now that they have reached such big numbers here in the southwestern side of the island.
A nomadic tribe mostly found in the coastal areas of Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Tawi-tawi and Sulu, Badjaos are known as sea gypsies who make their living as fishermen.
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What is the government doing about this problem..what is the Dayang dayang senator Zubiri doing as well to protect his constituents? In terms of natural resources Mindanao is rich..bakit ganito ang nangyari..ang mga ito ay Filipino din na gaya natin…tapat tulungan sila ng gov’t…Calling the attention of Senator Zubiri..matapos na ang term mo gumawa ka naman ng paraan na matulung ang mga constituents mo…
Look at their faces. They are able to smile and have fun despite their hardships.
The question is ” how can we help?”
yes, how can we help?
this has been a old issue. the badjaos have been slowly migrating even away from zamboanga. even here in manila they have become informal squatters. i saw a tv program a few years ago about the badjaos living along a metro manila portion of the railways. unfortunately, the program made no mention of how people can help.
when bandits take away others means of livelihood, it is the government which must find the solution. giving alms is certainly not a sustainable solution but at best a temporary one. it seems to me that the govt has given up their rights to protect not only the citizens of mindanao but also the seas around it.
I had a close look at the Badjaos when we stayed at Bayot Hotel sa Zamboanga, once upon a time..kasi they were around selling corals at iba pang wares nila..what interested me most was their style of life..they live in their boats, mayroon silang small boats (kasing laki ng palanggana) to go from boat to boat…they talk fast and sing song parang mga ibon…just watching them taught me of other cultures..withhin our country..
Many Badjaos were hoodwinked into joining a Born-Again cult that many of them left Mindanao and lived savage lives as squatters in the island just across Shell Tabangao and Petron’s Batangas Refinery. Thousands live there without jobs and decent means to feed their families. The younger ones became street beggars you now find in many streets in the Metro.