The Bacolod City Anti-Mendicancy Team has “rescued” 53 Badjao indigenous people, including those who disappeared from the Sum-ag gym on Monday morning, City Social Welfare Officer Sally Abelarde said on Tuesday, June 27.
The Badjao gypsies are being rounded up and will be sent back to their hometowns in Mindanao with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, she said.
Sum-ag Barangay Captain Rodney Carmona said 26 Badjaos who were rescued from the streets on Sunday and placed at the Sum-ag gym disappeared Monday morning.
When they returned in the morning to bring them food they were gone, Carmona said.
Abelarde said some of the missing Badjaos have since been “rescued” again by the Anti-Mendicancy Team.
City Administrator Pacifico Maghari has issued notices to explain to Abelarde in connection with the 80 Badjaos from Bacolod who ended up in Iloilo last week, and on the disappearance of the 26 from the Sum-ag gym.
Abelarde said the Anti-Mendicancy Team is continuing to “rescue” the Badjaos begging on the streets of Bacolod so that they can return to their homes in Mindanao.*