I was traveling on
my way home during Christmas break. I was riding a public bus. Along the way,
there were parts of the road which were under renovation and this cause one-
way passable. There were many children plunked near the transportations and
asking for money from the passengers. And the thought of Christmas came to my
mind that it is a time to give and to share. And so people gave a peso or two.
In those days I was
in need of money, and so I went to the ATM to withdraw. When I pushed my ATM
card and was about to press the PIN code, suddenly a man in his mid-40s just
appeared right me, extending his hand and asking for money. It took me a second
to retrieve my card in a hurry because I was confused whether that man was
indeed honest in asking for money or had other intention, i.e. to cause me harm.
(It was an excused act because crime in broad daylight could just happen
anytime. In fact burglary is rampant.)
Throughout the
vacation, one thing is very clear to me, i.e. there is rise of mendicants
everywhere. And so several questions came to my mind like: Does it reflect
about the reality of socio-financial problem in the society? Did the local
government not regulate the economic condition for the good of their
constituents? Why are there many children becoming mendicants? Did their
parents give them permission to do so? Or did the parents encourage them to ask
because they do not have decent jobs or no food on the table?
These are some of
the questions that I cannot find the answer. There are only two conflicting
approaches I know regarding mendicancy. From the teaching of the Bible, it
tells about the role of giving and helping the poor and the needy. When we do
something for the poor, we do it for Christ. And from the 1987 Philippine
Constitution that tells us about anti-mendicancy because it teaches these
people how to be lazy or instilling the wrong values, instead of hardworking
and patience.
Up to this moment of writing, my limited mind is
wandering what would be the best approach to this social problem. All I know is
that poverty breeds criminality due to hopeless and ‘survival of the fittest’
situation. All I know is that the right way to tackle this situation is to give
a broad and long-term solution like investment and employment. In that way the
government makes the economic surging concrete by benefiting not only the rich
and the business sectors but also the poor and the needy.
