The Local Government in Cagayan de Oro City sent back 129 Badjaos to their respective places in Iligan with 11 individuals,10 individuals to Zamboanga, 62 individuals to Basilan and 46 individuals to Sulu after subjecting their residence in Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City to 14 days mandatory lockdown.
It started when a 21 year old-female Badjao tested positive for COVID-19.
The DOH prompting 30 Bajao families with 149 individuals under 14 days mandatory lockdown in their village.
The 21-year old Badjao arrived in Cagayan de Oro a few days before the August 28 Feast of the City's Patron Saint, St. Augustine.
Almost every day you will see the Badjao on the road begging for them to survive.
City Epidemiologist Dr. Joselito Retuya said that during their contact-tracing, they found out that she arrived from Iligan City the weekend prior to the fiesta and was rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center on August 25 after she complained of vomiting and severe dehydration.
Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., chief of the City Social Welfare Development Office told MindaNews it is not the fear that the Badjaos or Bajaus, also known as “sea nomads,” will become a major virus spreader that drove the city government to send them back to their places of origin.
He said most of the Badjaos arrived in Cagayan de Oro before the city fiesta last August 28.
The city’s move to send back the Badjaos to their provinces was criticized by many, particularly as the City Council of Cagayan de Oro had just passed on August 10 an anti-discrimination ordinance penalizing any form of discrimination against any group, COVID-19 patients and frontliners.
The Badjaos in the Philippines suffer from discrimination as there is lack of understanding about their way of life and language, in the areas where they have settled in.
Asked to comment on the transport of the Badjaos to their places of origin, Mayor Moreno said “mendicancy should not be a way of life.”
Three buses from the Rural Transit Company fetched the 129 Badjaos in Barangay Puntod amid a downpour at 10 p.m. Friday.
He said about 20 Badjaos, who have “successfully integrated to the mainstream society” have agreed to remain in their village in Barangay Puntod.
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