DAGUPAN CITY — Some 400 street children were rescued last year by the city’s Task Force for the Prevention and Protection of Street Vulnerables.

Leila Natividad, head of the task force, said the street children were not only from Dagupan but also from other towns who were stranded in the city and opted to stay.

Those who had no homes to go back to were put under its care while those who wanted to go back to their homes were given money for their fares or escorted to their places of origin.

Among those assisted were children of Badjao families from Mindanao and Aetas from Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales who used to come to the city to beg for alms during the Christmas season.

They were all invited to the task force office and were provided what they needed, from food, clothing and money, said Natividad.

Others assisted by the task force were old people begging for alms in the streets, she said.

Under a long standing city ordinance, begging in the streets in Dagupan is prohibited. Violators (beggars and those who gave alms) face fine.

The old people were assisted by the City Social Welfare and Development Office while the younger ones were given livelihood and jobs.

Natividad admitted the number of street children wandering in Dagupan had reached 600 but has since been reduced as a result of the constant monitoring by the task force. (PNA)

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