MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) cited yesterday a recent Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) directive prohibiting street children from caroling and begging along major roads in Metro Manila.
CBCP Media Office director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III said the DSWD’s “Paskong Ligtas sa Batang Kalye” program promotes the true spirit of Christmas, adding that street caroling poses danger to children’s health and safety.
“It’s not really caroling, it’s begging...it will not add to the spirit of Christmas if children will be begging in the streets,” he said.
The DSWD program is a community-based Christmas outreach project that intends to prevent the street children from caroling and begging and to provide other services to street families.
DSWD said the project includes caroling performances, medical missions, gift-giving, distribution of noche buena food packs, arts and crafts, visual arts, and handicraft making, among others.
DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said the program is not a solution to the increasing number of street children “but a first step towards a sustainable and permanent solution that will keep them off the streets for good.”