When you see them don't just walk past them

I have been riding the LRT Line 2 (which starts at Santolan, Pasig City, as of this writing, and stretches all the way to Recto, Manila City) since I was in College. I cannot remember when I first saw people asking for alms in the pedestrian overpass but nowadays there are always several of them here. 

Note the discoloration of her face compared to the rest of her body?

Some of the "regulars" I see almost everyday is an old man that has no eyes, a middle-aged man devoid of fully developed arms, and a hunched over woman that always at the foot of the stairs near the station itself. When I was still in school I would not give anything to them, probably explains why I cannot remember when they started being here. I barely had enough allowance from my parents to but myself complete meals for lunch and dinner while I was at school so I didn't really have much to give away.

But now that I'm already working I always try to give even some small loose change I have. I usually just dump all coins in my bag and don't really use them to buy stuff anyway so why not share it to people who would really find value with these, right?

One pinoy urban day, as I was on my way to work, I decided to stop for a couple of minutes and take pictures of the people asking for alms. Out of the "regulars", only the old man with no eyes and the old woman were here. During the whole time I stopped on each person, not one stopped to hand them some help (be it money or food). I wouldn't be able to tell if those before me did or if those behind me as well. I just saw people staring at them as they walked past.

Asking

Nothing

Staring

I'm not judging all these people. Lord knows what type of problem they are going through themselves. I only but have a small request for everybody reading this. If you have even just a few coins or a small morsel of food with you, can you please share it to them? Not just here in Santolan but anytime you see a poor soul at the side of the road. 

Some of you may say that these could just be ploys of syndicates and that we are encouraging and supporting the criminal empire if we hand them money. You don't know that for sure. And if that is true, unless you actually do something to stop it then your best course of action is to help them not get in trouble with the syndicate until someone actually liberates them. A small act of kindness can go a long way.