Hungry Children in Bogo City and The World
Tonight I saw one of the saddest things I’ve seen in a long time.
We had four boys approach us while we were at the Bogo City BBQ by the Bay. I can’t tell what they are saying but all beggars use the same tone of voice, at least all the children I’ve heard so far. I was
irritated at first. I’ve been tense all day today and now these kids are going to start hounding us at my favorite place to eat. I go there cause it is cheap.
Jessie told me they were asking for food. Awww, that’s different. Usually it is parents sending their kids out to beg so they can snort there speed. But this is different and softened me up considerably. But then things got worse.
These children were watching us and waiting for us to finish. The moment we got up, even before we left, they raced each other to get the scraps off our plates! Not much different than a pack of wild dogs. They got what they could and then ran away.
They serve the pork chops. chicken, IUD (chicken intestine) and other meat on a stick. There is fat and bone that can’t be eaten, at least not by me. Jessie and I had a favorite stray we use to feed these scraps too but it seems the Bogo dog catcher got her the other day. We saw them trying, it took them several days. She has been replaced by the boys!
When we got up to leave tonight we got a surprise.
The four boys raced to be the first to remove the scraps from our table!
They are dirty and who knows where they sleep. The BBQ is open late into the morning, 3AM I believe. The other day they were there at midnight. One of the boys is shown in this picture. His eyes don’t have the glow of a happy child.
I don’t know what else to say. I want to ask where the organizations are to help people like this. UNICEF, Christian Children’s Fund, The Catholic Church and the Philippine Government but they may do much more than I know. I do know what Joe is doing and Joe doesn’t know what I do.
And in no way do I wish to reflect poorly on Bogo City, the city is an awesome place to live. I’ve only met one person that doesn’t like Bogo and she wont be here long. I love it, it is a very nice place to bring up kids.
There has been a lot of discussion about birth control here. I’ll just say consider the issue along with the horror of hungry children.
The reader may ask, but what have you done? It is improper to say, the bible tells us do not let the right hand know what the left hand is giving. Okay so it may be the other way around. Part of me wants to go get them and just take them in but who knows, they may have parents. Someone might accuse me of something horrible if I did. I’ll just say, when you say people asking for food, give them something. Never mind that I’m doing without some things I need. Still, I type this on my computer, while watching TV, sitting under my AIRCON and sitting on the bed I will sleep on tonight. It is more common than not to sleep on the floor at night here. For many Filipino the most they can hope for is a mattress for the floor.
Expats, I call especially upon you to give to the Hungry
We can have a good life here but it is often on the back of some of the Filipino. We have a good life here because the cost of services are so low. Unreasonably low. People are so poor because what they earn is so low not because they don’t work. Sure some are lazy, sometimes I’m lazy but many work very hard for a dollar or two a day. If they haven’t established themselves with a company by the age of thirty they have almost no chance of getting hired. Look at the classifieds in the newspaper. Often a college degree is required and almost always, they must be under thirty years old and that’s for management jobs. For entry level jobs it is usually below 25 years old.
Those of you that have your paperwork done, hire who you can. If you’re like most expats, including myself, that is just not possible. You can contribute a couple of pods of rice to a child with his hand out. I do know that expats here often give to these causes. It is a dream of mine, maybe never will happen, to be a part of an organization of expats that will help feed the hungry of the Philippines. We owe it to the country to give back.
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Tagged with: Bogo City • Expats Living in Cebu • Features • Philippine Poverty
Filed under: Living in Cebu
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Hello Rusty,
Thanks for the article. It is common scenario here in the Philippines. By the way, there is Non-Governmment Organization (NGO) based in Belgium who are helping poor children in the Philippines. Their website address is http://www.cadaatan.be
God bless….
Thanks for stopping by. Nice looking site.
Are you in the Philippines? Which part?
Is that your site?
Boy this article has a lot of errors in it. I'm not feeling well tonight and it shows. I feel fine other than I'm tense and I don't know why.
You rock! Thanks!
i am an expatriate worker in the middle east and my hometown is Cadaatan, San Remigio, Cebu. The wife of Mr. Luc is my neighbor. I visited your website everyday because I am interested on the latest development of Bogo City.
Net, glad to have you here. I hope you'll let me know what you think.
I think I might like living in San Remigio though I have not been there yet.
I want to join the beech club there but I really need to save for a motor first so I can get there.
But then I want to take the family there during brownouts so I don't know how much good a motor will do me. Would be hard to get all of us on a scooter. LOL 
Hi Rusty
In my own observation, living in Bogo is better than in San Remigio. You can see nice beaches in San Remigio but the main problem there is no department store, the public market there will open only once a week and no commercial bank. Right now I'm planning to have a residential house in Bogo City and maybe start a small business. Hopefully 3 years from now, Bogo will be fully developed and become the trading center in the northern part of Cebu.
But if you are interested to stay in San Remigio, you must have your own car so that you can go to Bogo anytime you need something.
Nel, I'm sure that you're right. Especially if I don't have my own transportation as I would likely have to drive to get anything, or almost anything. There would be the Sari Sari stores but that would be pretty limited selection.
I couldn't see well the other day I guess. I thought you were using the screen name of NET. Either that or I can't see well today.
I'm hoping you'll keep me straight regardless of the issue. You're participation is very helpful.
Nel, I have a question about the hungry children. I know begging is common, I’ve seen a lot of that and sometimes it is a scam. The kids grabbing the scraps off my plate is something I’ve not seen before. Are you saying that is common?
I haven’t seen the kids my last three trips.
Oh my God! Really? I’m sorry to hear that. Nope, it was not common and this is the first time I heard that actually happened here in Bogo. The Bogo City mayor should aware about this problem to protect the image of the city.
I’m far more worried about the boys. These were young boys, under 12. Someone may have run them off. If they are that hungry they need help. They are gone for now. I saw them there three times but the last time for only a few minutes.
I’m use to children begging and realize that much of this is just another way parents earn a living here. I also understand that drugs are sometimes behind it and other times, its just hunger. Not my place to judge, but I do get irritated at times. From now on, I’ll keep an open mind.
The first one to blame are their parents. The second is the Philippine government. There are so many corrupt government officials! I hate to say this but that is the TRUTH. They (government officials) are stealing millions of money from the government funds!
Nel,
I’m not in a position to lay blame. I do have to wonder about the parents but who knows what is going on there. The may be runaways? AS you know better than myself, life can be hard here. Alcohol can grab some people and destroy their life before they know what’s happened. Yes, they made the babies, they should take care of them. But I don’t know the circumstances. Also, I’m a visitor here and for that reason alone, I should be less judgmental.
There does seem to be a lot of corruption here. I don’t have any experience with government officials taking money but I have had to pay “taxes” when none should have been done. It could have been a mistake. I personally cannot speak out or protest government actions as I can be deported for such. You though, you can state what you believe and I’m thrilled that you have done so here.
I understand your anger, and how I might feel if the tables were turned. But those boys did not lesson my view of this country in anyway.
I look to seek out the knowledge of the Filipino. I see a lot of expats talk badly about the place but I wont do that. I’ve been here less than a year and the Philippines have made my life worth living again.
I do wonder where the church is. But then, perhaps the church is where those boys are now. I don’t know. I hope they are okay.
There are children sleeping on the streets of Cebu City. Often with their parents. I’ve seen it.
I tried to organize a group of expats to by some Jolibee’s chicken and hand it out down there. We can’t feed everyone but we can feed one person or one family sleeping on the curb. Never know how an act of kindness may restore someone’s hope. Even if not now, maybe someday. I see myself as a farmer in such situations, planting the seed and hope that it falls on fertile ground.
Nel, I’m really glad to have your input! I wish more Filipino would comment. I look forward to learning the language so I can communicate with more Filipino!
Rusty, I thought you are a very nice person with a golden heart especially to the poor people. Your girlfriend (Jessie) is very lucky to have you in her life.
Anyway, as per SWS survey, 1 out of 10 Filipinos has no foods to eat everyday! Majority of Filipinos are not adopting family planning and there are so many unemployed parents with several children. I hope the Philippine Congress or Senate will sign the Reproductive Bill soon. I think this law will solve hunger crisis in the future.
Nel, I have some extremely strong opinion regarding the Reproductive Health Bill and I really want to state them but again, the Philippine government sees it as meddling and I like it here too much to risk putting it in jeopardy.
If do have something negative to say, I’ll likely put it on my personal blog. But for the most part, I love the place. Oh there needs to be some changes in certain areas, like the one you mentioned above.
I see so many girls having babies way to early, sometimes out of wedlock after extreme pressure put on them by their boyfriends and then the guy disappears. Now that I can speak to it makes me very angry.
Thing will get better here and get better for women too I think. It is a very young democracy. These things take time.
Change will come and I do hope it is a peaceful change and that the gangs of America never move into the Philippines.
Jessie lucky? You’ve not tried to live with me. LOL All kidding aside, I THINK Jessie is very happy. I hope so. I wish I could do more to enrich her life and drive away all of her fears.
I’m not seeking praise, I’m really not. I’m just trying to follow the leader, the teacher, Christ as best I can. For me, that is not judging others but trying to have compassion and even love them.
I mentioned wanting to feed the poor in hopes that someone will join me in this desire. It has to start with a desire. It will be hard for me to do this in Bogo City as I have not seen a large number of street people.
There does seem to be a large area near the market with a lot of “informal settlers.” I’d be afraid to go in there at night. I’m not sure if they live there or just hang out there during the day. It is down by the jail. Jessie said the buildings down that way are used during Fiesta. That makes sense, just after Fiesta no one was down there. Last time I went, it looked like several families had setup a home.
Always nice to hear from you!
I would like to talk to you about a problem I am having in Bogo and it is a personal matter. I would like some advice since I am living in America with my filipino wife and her family is in a land dispute and my hands are a little bit tied since I dont know how the legal system works there. It seems that a lady whom my father in law owed x amount of pesos asked my father in law to sighn some papers on a night when he had been drinking. It turned out that the papers where concerning his land. He had been drinking to the point that he did not know what he was sighning. I would like to just pay the money that he owed but the offer was made to the lady and she said that she wanted his land. I dont think its fair for someone to take advatage of someone in a compromised state of mind and I would like to find a reasonable layer in the Bogo area. Any help or suggestions would be greatly apreciated. Chris
I don’t know either but a lawyer wont cost you very much. There are several here in the city. I don’t know who is good and who is not. I can get a phone number for you, is that what you want? A lawyer is defiantly in order her.
In the states, you’d have to prove he was drunk when he signed the papers and didn’t’ know what he was signing. Probably pretty hard to do. There were some rules too about the other person had to know. Again for the states and I don’t recall the details of that.
Besides getting you a number, what can i do? I don’t think you’ll get a free consultation here but I doubt it would cost more than $20.00 probably much less.
I hope it works out for you. Let me know!
Hi Russ, re-the begging children. In my opinion, overpopulation is a big part in the country’s poverty (OK corruption as well). When I left Phil. in 1982, there were 70million Filipinos. How many are there now? 90 mill or more? This is in a country who has little resources and would fit 5 times inside Queensland. When I was a little girl growing up in a village in Mactan Island (a paradise back then), I remember there was a family planning campaign being run by someone (not the catholic church definitely). However, through ignorance I dare say, whenever there occurs a misfortune in the family such as illness or job loss, the women would discard their brith control pills etc, saying “God must be punishing me because I am taking these brith control pills, therefore I will have as many children as God permits”. I doubt whether these attitudes have changed now. I think about 2 years ago there was another NGO who tried to promote birth control again in Manila. The Catholic church kicked up a stink about it and pressured the government to intervene. I heard that the govt. eventually bowed to the Catholic church. Apparently the NGO’s were told you can continue with your family planning campaign but you can’t advertise on TV or radio. So I think the Catholic church in a way has got a lot to answer for, for the Phil. social problems. And now we find our women having to go abroad as domestic servants (and getting raped, abused and sometimes murdered in the process), because the parents did not have the resources to give them a decent education. So the only other option is to go abroad as domestic servants or go to Japan to become prostitutes. I was friendly with a girl in college once, before I left the Phil, and she used to tell me how much pressure her family is putting her through to bring money in for them. She was working her way in a factory while attending evening classes. In the end she dropped out. I found out later she was dancing in a club in Ermita (Manila). I thought back then, her family did not deserve her and she should not have sacrificed herself for them. But it can understand it though because, if you are a filipino, it is pretty much instilled into you about your responsibility to the family, etc. That is why a brother goes to the middle east, sends money to educate a brother or sister so that brother or sister can have a better life. But again, even with a college education, it will not guarantee you a good well-paid job in the Phil. My brother tells me that a nurse in the Phil. earns less than a salesgirl in SM. Yet, to send a daughter to study nursing in the Phil. is very costly.
I think the Phil. still has got a lot to go in terms of social reforms. By the way, you kept saying if you comment re-this or that you could find yourself getting deported. Is that for real? I’ve always thought that the Phil. despite its corruption has got freedom of the the press and hence freedom of expression as long as you are not enciting anarchy. During the Marcos years, people (usually radio commentators) get shot in the mouth if they criticize the Marcoses. Surely it doesn’t happen these days? Maybe I’ve been away so long….
Yes, I can be deported for criticizing the government. Insulting any Filipino can have me deported. Raising my voice COULD result in deportation. So I can’t give opinion on these kinds of things.
There is a Philippine Reproductive Health Bill under consideration now. It is vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church. It has been reported that the church has implied excommunication for those senators that support it. A recent poll indicated that most in Manila are in favor of the bill. The church claims it is supportive of abortion. I have read the bill and to me it seems anti-abortion. The bill aims to prevent abortion. Filipina know what medication to take to cause abortion. I heard of a married girl that just took it. Her husband has at least one mistress and the marriage is failing. I guess she just couldn’t stand the idea of needing this man for another 18 years.
A few in government have recognized that the murder rate is higher than it would be if divorce were permissible in the country.
That poverty is part of all this seems very clear to me. Birth control is an area I 100% cannot advocate. Bringing birth control information into the country, just information can result in deportation and blacklisted.
There is a press organization in New York City that says the Philippines is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. I know of several journalist that have turned up dead since I came here.
For foreigners though, its in the law we are not allowed to be critical of any government position. With the rebellion going on in the south, it is understandable.
There were some demonstration in the south not too long ago in which foreigners participated in, even on TV. The Philippine Government followed up on that with reminding foreigners they could be deported for participating in such a protest.
For Filipino, there free speech is a protected right but it is not for foreigners. Filipino sometimes end up dead for speaking out. The government would certainly jail someone for such a murder if they were exposed but they are rarely exposed. In the cases I know I of no one has been prosecuted.
I try to give the facts only and not give opinion on such matters. I have yet another site where I usually report on such things. That is http://www.heyjoe.ph
You can speak about it, I can’t. Though I guess if I encouraged you to do so, I could open myself up to trouble.