By JEN BAYLON

The Bacolod City Anti-Mendicancy Task Force will closely monitor the presence of Badjaos in the city ahead of the MassKara Festival in October.

In a radio interview, Alma Gustilo, head of the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), said surveillance and mapping operations have already begun, which focus on Badjaos in the city.

Gustilo added that DSSD personnel will be deployed to four festival sites before the MassKara to monitor the movements of Badjaos, particularly minors who are unaccompanied by adults.

The DSSD had earlier identified several Badjao families.

They were initially sent back to their hometown, Zamboanga City, but some have returned to Bacolod.

Gustilo added that if the number of Badjao continues to increase in the coming days and weeks, the city government will coordinate with local government units to send them back to their respective provinces.

Task force focal person Wendy Castro said they conducted a mapping of dwellers on city streets.

Castro said some of them are city residents who no longer return to their homes.

City Ordinance No. 146, series of 2005, or the Anti-Mendicancy Law, establishes an integrated program for regulating mendicancy, with penalties.

The ordinance prohibits begging or soliciting charitable donations by the poor or religious organizations on the streets.

The 45th MassKara Festival, considered one of the most colorful festivals in the country, will kick off with a “salubong” on October 11, and will run until October 27./JB, WDJ