Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday stepped up foot and mobile patrols along Roxas Boulevard and other major roads to drive away street dwellers that continue to litter the city and “rescue them from danger.”
Estrada clarified the operation is not an anti-vagrant “crackdown” but a “rescue mission” to save those homeless individuals that he said are in constant danger in the streets.
“No, we don’t treat them as criminals to be arrested. We are taking them out of the streets so we could give them safer shelter, food, and medicine that they need,” Estrada said.
“This is a rescue mission,” said Estrada.
In his order to Manila Department of Social Welfare (MDSW) chief Nanet Tanyag, Estrada tasked the city social welfare unit to deploy enough personnel to patrol Roxas Boulevard, Kalaw Street. P. Burgos Street near the city hall, Taft Avenue, Lawton area, and other roads in the so-called tourist belt area of Manila.
Estrada said the vagrants tend to return to the streets when no authorities are around. Add to these are the Badjaos, Mangyan and other indigenous people that roam around the city begging for alms.
Tanyag said she has organized teams to patrol the areas in shifts; the foot patrols will be augmented by the MDSW’s three patrol vehicles.
“Whenever they see our people and marked vehicles, they run away. So, we will activate this strategy as ordered by Mayor Estrada,” Tanya said.
Last month, MDSW has rounded up 643 street dwellers in its continuing rescue operations in the city.
Since January, the department has rounded up a total of 2,075 homeless individuals, who also included non-Manilans.
Last February, Estrada issued Executive Order No. 10 directing all concerned city departments to conduct continuous operations to achieve the city government’s goal of “zero street dweller in the City of Manila.”
Tanyag said the city government is close to achieving this goal.
The rescued street people are being turned over to the city-run Manila Boys Town Complex in Marikina City for temporary safekeeping, where the children are enrolled in the Fugoso Integrated School that offers Alternative Learning System (ALS) for free, according to Tanyag.
At the facility, she said the street people have decent shelters, clothes, foods, medicines, and proper healthcare; as for the adults, they undergo development activities such as skills and livelihood trainings and basic business management courses.
Upon their release, the adults may also be referred to the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) for job referrals, Tanyag added.
The reason why there are so many street dwellers is that most of them are not from Manila, but from other places such as Cavite, and other nearby provinces, Tanyag said.
