We didn't take this photo - rather we borrowed it from http://kuro-kuro.org/batang-hamog-and-philippines-juvenile-justice/. But this is a regular sight in highly urbanized cities in the Philippines. Increasing numbers of street kids - known locally as "batang hamog" - the children of the dew (kids who sleep on the streets) - are causing city governments to develop various responses. These street children are often seen begging for money from passengers in cars stuck in traffic and stealing materials from open trucks in the same traffic jams. They are frequently rounded up by police but it is difficult to know what to do with them. The youngest should be returned to families - the those families either don't exist or the child is unwilling to disclose any family relationships. Those under 15 years of age cannot be held liable for any crime. In Bacolod City, there are numbers of "badjao" (sea gypsy) children who have gone from diving for coins at the port to climbing aboard jeepneys and begging from the passengers inside. Cities are posting notices informing tourists that it is against city policies to give money to street kids because this discourages them from attending school. In many cases, parents send their kids out into the streets to collect the money needed for daily meals - so not all street kids are, in fact, without a family. Some of the residents here at Bahay Pag-asa were street children. One that I spoke to a few days ago spent five years living as a street kid and was repeatedly taken to police lockups and then released. Ultimately, this is not a law enforcement problem so much as a social ill which will require concerted and creative efforts to cure. For its part, Bahay Pag-asa is committed to helping those street kids who find themselves in conflict with the law. We are determined to provide an alternative to begging and theft - and that would be education and opportunity. It's a big, big task...but we think that we can help.
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