Street kids a time bomb: Arroyo

Street kids a time bomb: Arroyo

MANILA (AFP): At least 200,000 homeless children roam the mean
streets of the Philippines, posing the risk of a "social time
bomb" that could lead to more serious national problems,
President Gloria Arroyo warned on Thursday.

"It's a social time bomb waiting to explode because the street
children ... will become future criminals unless we do something
about it now," Arroyo said in a speech as she opened a children's
shelter run by the country's largest television network.

Arroyo, a former social welfare secretary, said the majority
of the 200,000 street children were runaways from dysfunctional
families.

Half of the number could be found in Manila streets, where
they have become beggars, child prostitutes, petty thieves and
drug couriers, she said.