Most of us often associate Badjaos as the people who sail on their wooden boats, not as fishers or as seafarers, but as trained divers forced to dive in seas for coins tossed by tourists and bystanders (Emboscado, 2013). Most of us see them on streets, mothers carrying children and even children themselves with scrungy faces, and palms outstretched begging for alms. Most of us assume that Badjaos are lazy people because they would rather beg than work for money. But, have we ever asked why Badjaos resort to begging on the streets and on the seas?
Long ago, Badjaos were a proud tribe. They have impressed both fellow Filipinos and foreigners for their hardihood, their skills as pearl divers, with nothing but daggers between their lips; with their bare eyes, without any diving equipment, they could scour the farthest, darkest depths of the seas and come back with the most beautiful pearls (Remollino, 2002). They were able to preserve their culture by fighting off the onslaught of colonizers.
The Badjaos that we know today are a far cry from what they were in native Mindanao. The Badjaos came here in Cebu, because life in Mindanao had become too difficult and unbearable. But, life did not become easier for them when they came here. They were forced to adapt to civilization. Their nomadic way of life in the seas no longer apply to the urbanized way of living in Cebu. They have to be educated, and develop critical skills in order to get hired on jobs, but what do the pearl-diving Badjaos know about all this? They never needed to learn how to read and write when they were living on the seas, we could not blame them if they resort to begging for money on the streets, and using their diving skills to dive for coins on the seas.
However, not all of the Badjaos ask for money, some of them have real jobs. Felicito Amamsa, chieftain of the Alaska Mambaling Badjao Community is a fisherman, and he also sells cultured shells like his other tribemates. According to Amamsa, “We don’t build houses in Mindanao, so you can’t call us lazy if we don’t build houses here in Cebu. We don’t even sweep our floors there, because we live in the seas most of the time, so you can’t call us lazy if we don’t also sweep the floors here. But we are adapting to this change. As you can see, we are slowly changing.” The Badajaos are also making an effort to educate their children by building an education center in their community in Mambaling.
Discrimination on Badjao’s Propensity to Beg for Alms
People discriminate against the Badjaos because they would rather beg than work for money. Before we judge and state our opinions about this, we should learn first the culture of Badjao. By understanding the the way of life bequeathed to them by their ancestors, we can understand why this proud tribe has resorted to begging for alms.
BaSu 