NO HIDING. Street dwellers return to the area they consider home near Plaza Independencia two days after being rounded up by Cebu City Hall personnel. (CDN Photo/Tonee Despojo)
Street dwellers who were rounded up in last Friday’s campaign by the Cebu City government returned to the city’s streets hours later.
Ester Concha, head of Cebu City Hall’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), said those who were brought to the San Roque gym have been identified, processed and allowed to return to the streets.
She said they will not keep the street dwellers away during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
“Dili sad namo sila taguan, uy. Luoy sad baya na sila (We won’t hide them. They are pitiful),” Concha said.
Concha said the street dwellers used to stay at the old building in barangay Kamagayan before it was demolished.
Inspection
Last Friday night, at least 62 street dwellers were brought to the San Roque gym as part of the city government’s campaign for Anti-Mendicancy Month. Concha said most street dwellers are not from Cebu City.
She said some of them don’t want to return home and prefer to stay on the streets.
Concha said they are considering to temporarily house 500 street dwellers at the T. Padilla public market site at least until December this year.
Concha said she will ask Mayor Michael Rama to allow the dwellers to use some vacant portions of the market until December.
“We still have to conduct an ocular inspection. Initially I was told that the place is ideal. This needs negotiation and proposal because we can’t use the market immediately because it will violate the Market Code,” she told Cebu Daily News.
Monitor
Other areas for consideration are the barangay San Roque gymnasium and a government-owned lot near the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF).
Concha said they are also looking into housing the dwellers in bunkhouses.
“This can’t be done by the DSWS alone but also by other departments, national government agencies as well as other stakeholders,” she said.
Concha said a meeting is scheduled tomorrow to discuss plans for the relocation of the dwellers.
She said beneficiaries of the program like the DSWS’s “rent subsidy” can receive P3,000 to P6,000 a month.
Concha said the registered beneficiaries can also avail of the Cebu City government’s medical program.
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