What are we going to do with the Badjaos in our midst?

This was the question Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim asked yesterday but which had been a nagging question for years. Just what are we going to do about a people who are as confused as they are hungry. An ocean-going tribe that would have been perfect for Kevin Costner's “Waterworld”, the Badjaos have started to get on many people's nerves after they invaded solid ground.

Eased out of their native environment because of the diminishing fish catch and the intrusion into their fishing grounds by commercial fishing fleets, the tribe is driven into land by hunger. With their inability to speak the language and their natural penchant for marine-related activity, the Badjaos are left with little recourse but to beg. That is, for them, about the only dignified way to make a living.

And so they pop out of nowhere to thrust their palms whenever the tricycle you are riding in, or any other vehicle for that matter, stops when the light turns red. Elsewhere, they stalk you on the street even as the older ones who could no longer keep pace simply squat and deliver the message with pleading gestures. Sure, people think giving alms to them would be like encouraging them to beg. That is about as logical as telling a hungry person not to overeat. For no matter how interested they might be at landing a job, they just don't stand a chance.

One need not have a human resource degree to know that they will never be considered for work. If degree holders get routinely turned away due to the limited job opportunities and the glut in applicants, there's no way for a Badjao – with practically no skills and the language barrier – to get hired. The problem is that there is supposed to be a law that prohibits the giving of alms to beggars. The idea might sound like a good one until we realize how we much we are giving away to politicians who don't work at all. Lim struck a sensitive nerve when he pointed out the dilemma: are we going to arrest them for violating possibly the least of crimes that people in this country can commit? With the shortage in policemen, are we going to focus our energy going after them while neglecting crime and drug syndicates and other offenders? Just like the best of us, the Badjaos deserve to live and exist. And just like the worse of us, they are entitled to indiscretions to make a living. If we live by the principles of our faith, we are even supposed to share with the least among us. If they are guilty of any crime, it is to be born among the poor and despised.