I was at church for Ash Wednesday the other day, and since it was already crowded inside, I had settled for a spot at one of the walkways outside. Beside us was a person that I assumed was the resident mendicant, who was seated on the ground.
Anyway, in the middle of the mass, those of us that are near her notice that she starts scratching herself and then ends up taking off her oversized shirt, which turns out to be the only article of clothing that she was wearing. It was an awkward situation, but as she was obviously mentally unwell, nobody knew what to do so we just averted our eyes and tried to focus on the hyper-long homily that was serving the multiple purpose of penance and Lenten sacrifice.
The woman takes off and puts on her shirt multiple times throughout the mass, and aside from averting our eyes, nobody did anything about it.
I’m pretty sure the church and city people know that she is there, and probably by now know of her tendency to strip naked, but that experience made me think of how our towns and cities deal with such people who obviously need help or some sort of intervention. Hopefully, the solution of the authorities is not to also avert their eyes when it comes to these homeless and mentally unwell individuals on our streets.
This topic has been on my mind for some time now, as I have noticed during my after-dinner strolls with my wife that the homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk or on public benches along our route have recently been growing in number. I’ve been meaning to comment on how it would be nice for the local government unit to address the problem, but at the same time I also wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for tackling such a multi-layered problem that involves human beings who could be in complicated or difficult situations. Those are problems that cannot be solved by simply taking them out of the streets, as it requires a system that is capable of providing the intervention, diagnosis, and a suite of long-term solutions to choose from, depending on the person involved.
The long and short of it is that it is about time our cities or barangays should be on top of their street dweller situation. There should be a team responsible for checking the streets at night, picking them up and giving a place to stay and some food to eat, while another team, ideally made up of professionals, determines the best course of action for the individuals involved. That could either involve sending them back home to their family if they have one, providing housing options and job opportunities, and/or treatment for those diagnosed with mental health issues. If this sort of expertise is something most LGUs probably don’t have, a shared center run by the province or national government might make sense.
A person who roams the streets, dirty and unkept, living off the generosity of strangers, sleeping and pooping wherever they can, is not a good look for any city. It implies that the LGU cannot or will not take care of those kinds of people. Their presence can cause discomfort, or in some cases, be scary for those who are afraid of violent tendencies of the undiagnosed and untreated mentally unwell. With so much money being given away for political patronage or doleouts pretending to be something else, why can’t LGUs fund proper homeless shelters that are run by trained social workers and have access to medical professionals who can diagnose and treat the unwell?
Most towns and cities have their resident homeless ‘buangs’. You can’t miss them because they mostly dress the same (or sometimes not at all). What is frustrating is that it is already 2026, but it seems that the problem simply cannot be addressed. If ever they are gathered, cleaned up, fed, and talked to, no permanent solutions are probably offered because they usually end up back on the streets again. It is a well-meaning cycle that repeats until one side gets tired or it is normalized and we just give up and consider their presence a part of our community. If they turn indecent, all we do is avert our eyes. As for the possibility of them turning violent, however unlikely, well there are always thoughts and prayers for that.
Homeless street dwellers are not just a Filipino problem, as even first world countries have to deal with them. However, in a country where the climate isn’t as harsh on the homeless, they can afford to stay out on the streets longer, so our local governments should do more for them, especially if it is not just helpful to the individuals concerned, but also to the community as well.*
