Zambales townsfolk protest relocation of Badjaos

The residents of Sta. Cruz, Zambales staged a rally in front of the town hall last Monday to protest the relocation of some 100 Badjao families to the municipality.

The Badjao families are being transferred to Barangay Malabago after Batangas City threatened to eject them for mendicancy and alleged violent behavior.

The Sta. Cruz residents expressed alarmed not only over the unsavory background of the Badjao families being brought in their midst, but more so the instant ballooning of the town’s population, which they fear might result in undue competition over already scarce fish catch.

Malabago residents are small Zambal fishermen who depend on their catch from the municipal waters of Sta. Cruz for their livelihood.

Wilfredo Cortez, the residents’ spokesman, said Sta. Cruz Mayor Luisito Marti and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have not consulted the local folk on the relocation plan, which the New Zealand government is reportedly financing.

While the residents recognize the need of the Badjaos for a permanent home, they questioned the wisdom of relocating them to an area where there is a big difference in culture, religion, and behavior.

Instead, they urged the DSWD to seriously study the return of the Badjaos to Mindanao where they can live among their kind.

Historically, the Zambals are a closely knit group who have lived harmoniously and peacefully with, but separately from the Aetas.

Introducing another ethnic group without the mutual tolerance which the Zambals and Aetas now enjoy can prove disastrous, the locals said.