It was a moment when I wanted to tell myself, why can’t women just stay home and take care of the babies?

Then again, they are gypsies. Real ones. It wasn’t just a melodramatic scene from a movie. They are real. And that’s what made it even more painful.

And then, a few minutes later, I saw how horrifying it could go. Three boats, each sailed by a woman, each with a baby, each woman leaving the baby on the boat upon diving for a coin. And each time, the baby would move, along with the boat. I don’t pray, but those minutes, I said, if there is truth in the rumors about angels, I hope they come to these babies and protect them.

And yes, the passengers were not distracted by that. Of course, there were shouts like, ‘the baby! the baby!’ but nobody really stopped throwing coins into the water until it was time for everyone to leave the ship.

Boats of our life

As I left the Tagbilaran city port area that morning and witnessed the sea gypsies move away from the ship and find a dry place nearby, I knew I had to ask some questions.

From what I have gathered, the Badjaos used to be living only in Mindanao, as a tribe in the island. They are fisher folks who, over time, with the emergence of more sophisticated and commercial fishing, were displaced, thus the migration in the different islands in the country such as Bohol, Cebu and Manila.

Here in Tagbilaran City, they are always dismissed as just beggars or just badjaos, lower-class people, people who are ignorant and stupid. Often, their names are used by kids as a term of mockery or to demean other kids. For many of us, they are just people who are fixtures of the city, providers of colorful backdrop in the drama on the streets. They are mere characters meant to be given alms or totally ignored.

Then again, I watch the streets and it is not only the Badjaos who beg. The streets of our cities are peopled by all kinds of beggars, bums and fixtures that spell altogether one thing – poverty.

And I was reminded by that American President who said two months ago, “The Philippines is in an Economic Renaissance.” Contributed to (Bulatlat.com)

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