Around 200 indigenous people (IP) who went to Metro Manila to beg for alms during the Christmas and New Year’s revelries have been escorted back to their provinces by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
The latest batch of rescued IPs were sent to their hometowns in Jolo and Tawi-Tawi in Sulu province on Thursday, Jan. 5, according to the PCG. They arrived safely at the Zamboanga City Port.
“Ayon sa Coast Guard District Southwestern Mindanao, umabot na sa 200 IPs mula Maynila ang nakabalik ng kani-kanilang komunidad sa Mindanao (According to the sa Coast Guard District Southwestern Mindanao, around 200 IPs from Manila have been sent back to their communities in Mindanao),” the PCG said in a statement Friday, Jan. 6.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) teamed up with the PCG to address the alleged exploitation of IPs from Mindanao.
According to the PCG, the IPs are recruited by syndicates to beg for alms on the streets during the holiday season.