At Clark conference, an appeal to understand Badjaos

CLARK FREEPORT—After decades of ignoring the plight of the Badjao (also known as Sama-Bajau) from Western Mindanao, the government and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) finally decided to sit together to find ways to help members of the indigenous group.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, at the first national conference of stakeholders on the Sama-Bajau here on Thursday, asked the support of local governments and NGOs in providing safe communities and livelihood opportunities to Badjaos who continue to flee poverty and conflicts in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Zamboanga and other parts of Western Mindanao.

“We should look for short to medium term solutions to their situation, as well as long term solution,” Soliman said at the conference.

She said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is against the practice of many Badjao families who migrate to cities and urban areas in Luzon to beg.

“It is the position of the DSWD that it is not right to put their lives in danger by allowing them, especially the elderly and the children, to beg on the road,” said Soliman.

She said Badjaos, a seafaring tribe, would not be arrested but urged to find safer ways to earn. In Metro Manila, she said 145 Badjao families have agreed to participate in cash-for-work programs.

Joseph Roy Villarin, project director of the Claret Samal Foundation Inc., said Badjaos are displaced by violence, like attacks from pirates.

He said many are forced out of their homes by natural disasters and poverty brought by diminishing catch as a result of climate change, mangrove deforestation and destruction of fish sanctuaries.

Villarin, who had lived with and worked in Badjao communities in Basilan for 10 years, said they also flee religious and cultural biases because dominant tribes in Mindanao regard them as “inferior, low class and outcasts.”

Pastor Edwin Villanueva, chair of the God’s Love for the Indigents Ministry Inc., said Badjaos seem to be the most misunderstood tribe in the country. He said something must be done to keep them from begging.

Villanueva’s group has established a model community for 32 Badjao families in San Jose village in San Simon, Pampanga. He said his group has taught them to make and sell freshwater pearl accessories, pot holders, doormats and garments.

“We cannot make them till the land or grow plants because doing so means digging their own graves for them. We just don’t understand their culture. We just need to understand them,” he said.

There are about 5,000 Badjaos in Central Luzon and many of them resort to begging.

“They regard Central Luzon, especially Pampanga, as a ‘Promised Land’ because they could live peacefully here and they say that Kapampangans are loveable,” Villanueva said.

Roger Usman, 35, a Badjao leader, said they were too afraid to stay in Mindanao because of violence and lawlessness.

He said when he brought his family to Metro Manila a few years ago, they were forced to live on sidewalks. But because he learned to sell goods in the streets, his family now lives in a small room he rents.

“I believe that all of you here will be able to help us. I also want you to know that not all Badjaos are beggars. Some of us are striving to live decently,” he said in Filipino.