Today’s innocents are our streetchildren - ROSES AND THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces

During the Spanish period, the day used to be celebrated as Holy Innocents’ Day. It commemorated the Massacre of the Innocents, the slaughter of all the male children two years old and under when Jesus was born. It was done on the orders of Herod in order to kill the new-born baby who was destined to become "King of the Jews." They were actually the very first martyrs. They did not die for Christ, they died in place of Christ. It was originally believed that thousands were killed, but modern research revealed that it must have been less than a hundred.

Niños Inocentes was celebrated very much like April Fool’s Day. People borrowed money from their friends and if the friend accommodated them with a token loan, then he was reminded that it was Holy Innocents’ Day and the victim forfeited his loan. Holy Innocents’ Day is the perfect time to launch a long-range program to help our streetchildren. Because, in truth and fact, our streetchildren are the Holy Innocents of our time.

We thought that when President Estrada launched his Erap Para Sa Mahirap program our streetchildren would be on top of the agenda. But the priority went to the mansions for the mistresses. Children are our most precious natural resource. They have no concept of the past and are supposed to use the present to prepare themselves for the future. How can they be concerned about tomorrow when they are not even sure if they will eat today?

Every municipality in Metro Manila should establish a home for the homeless children. Every individual should be given the opportunity to develop his possibilities. For as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said:

Perhaps there lives some dreary boy, untaught
In schools, some graduate of the field or street,
Who shall become a master of the art,
An admiral sailing the high seas of thought
Fearless and first, and steering with his fleet
For lands not yet laid down in any chart.

We cannot be indifferent to the plight of our street children. They, too, are our own. The money that we don’t spend for their rehabilitation now will eventually be spent supporting them in reformatories or in prison. They should not only be fed and sheltered, they should be given good training that could provide them with job opportunities and the very best education they can absorb. That is the responsibility of the older generation.

Lord, give to men who are old and rougher
The things that little children suffer,
And let keep bright and undefiled
The young years of the little child.

The streetchildren are hapless victims of our times. Like the Holy Innocents, they were condemned without having done any wrong. How can we speak of justice if we can’t even give it to innocent children? It is impossible to go out into the streets without encountering these innocent victims of our society. People see them as nuisances in our streets. They wonder why the police do not arrest them. They are not juvenile delinquents. But they will become delinquents if people are indifferent to their plight. When we hear about the fabulous amounts of money allegedly stored in banks as revealed by witnesses to the impeachment trial, we wonder why none of it went to the poorest of the poor – our streetchildren.

We should officially dedicate a day for our street urchins. The most fitting day is Holy Innocents’ Day. For that is what these children are – innocent victims of our times.