ANGELES CITY — The city government here nabbed a man allegedly involved in a “beggar syndicate” by bringing indigenous people at the public market on a daily basis to beg for alms.
The man, identified as Daniel Lingad, 57, is currently facing charges for allegedly violating Republic Act 9208, also known as Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Lingad, a resident of Barangay Pandan and a jeepney driver plying the Pampang-Pandan route, has allegedly been using his public transportation to fetch and transfer the IPs, as captured by the city’s CCTV record.
Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. condemned this act, saying that the city’s task force team will continue the strict reinforcement of the anti-mendicancy law.
Lazatin furthered that the city government is also continuously conducting rescue operations throughout the city to eradicate begging and alms-giving.
Lazatin ensures that those who will be caught and rescued will not be duped again.
As for the victim-IPs, they were identified as Sama-Bajau, and were already rescued by the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
To recall, Mayor Lazatin has ordered the strict implementation of the anti-mendicancy law and formed a team for the conduct of rescue operations.
Lazatin’s Chief Adviser IC Calaguas and Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel is supervising the monitoring and rescuing team, composed of members of the CSWDO led by Edna Duaso, Angeles City Traffic Development Office led by Francis Pangilinan; Angeles City Tourism Auxiliary headed by Michael Lising; and the Angeles City Police Office.
At the time of writing, 322 individuals were already rescued and assessed by the CSWDO, mostly reintegrated with their families and under the custody of the city.
This is not the first time that the Lazatin administration conducted a rescue operation in the city. It has been a priority program of the city government to rescue homeless families and street kids.
