EDITORIAL - Holiday extortion

The Department of Social Welfare and Development has launched a laudable campaign to keep street children and other beggars off the streets of Metro Manila this holiday season. The move makes sense, and not just during the holidays. Children and the old and infirm in particular risk getting injured or worse when they beg from motorists.

The DSWD must now make sure that authorities are fully aware of “Paskong Ligtas sa Batang Kalye.” A horde of beggars from all over the country has descended on Metro Manila, adding to those who rap on car windows throughout the year. Many have infants in tow.

This Christmas the beggars have become more organized. They jump on jeepneys, blocking the passengers’ entry point, and shove envelopes at everyone. At night around the headquarters of the military and national police, girls jump out of the darkness into the street, blocking a vehicle’s path, and start dancing while men rap on the windows of the vehicle. The dancing stops and the vehicle is allowed to pass only when a “gift” has been given.

This is no longer Christmas charity, which is voluntary, but extortion. It is worse than the teenage boys who insist on washing windshields with brackish water and dirty rags in the middle of a heavy downpour or else they scratch the vehicles with coins or sharp objects. These boys proliferate in many parts of Metro Manila and are among the first sights to greet travelers arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Filipinos know how to give, but there is a place for charity, and it’s not the polluted, dangerous streets of Metro Manila. Most donations are coursed through churches and religious organizations. The failure to clear the streets of these beggars is but another example of the weakness of Philippine law enforcement.

Many years ago police actually bothered to round up these beggars. Children were either turned over to the social welfare department or else returned to their parents, who were warned that they faced prosecution for subsequent apprehensions of their children for begging in the streets. Adult beggars were driven away by police, barangay officials or traffic aides. These are the officials who should be held responsible for stopping street begging and outright extortion.