PHILIPPINES
UCA News
AFP, Manila
Philippines
January 23, 2015
The Philippines government came under fire Friday after admitting that hundreds of homeless people were taken off Manila’s streets and put into luxury accommodation during Pope Francis’s recent visit, when he preached compassion for the poor.
Members of parliament demanded an explanation after Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman revealed 490 beggars and homeless people were taken to air-conditioned log cabins at a resort near Manila for the January 15-19 visit.
“The pope would have wanted to see the Philippines, warts and all. Let us not pretend that we are a first-world country,” said House of Representatives member Terry Ridon, who is initiating a congressional inquiry.
Soliman said the street people, many of whom live in shanties and hammocks tied to palm trees along the Manila Bay seafront, were removed from the capital’s Roxas Boulevard before the visit.
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