Vagrancy in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The coronavirus outbreak has crippled the Philippine economy, resulting in losses in employment and livelihood. This economic havoc had a detrimental impact on the country’s poor and vulnerable sectors, driving them to engage in vagrancy to survive the health crisis. Hence, this study explored the lived experiences of vagrants and the reasons for vagrancy. The transcendental phenomenological research design of Moustakas (1994) through in-depth open-ended and semi-structured interviews was conducted to comprehend vagrants’ experiences during the pandemic. Qualitative data findings were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2020) thematic analysis. This study showed participants shared feelings about their experiences, which depicted a difficult life, challenging vagrancy conditions, increased vulnerability to health risks, and lack of government assistance. Further, the study revealed that the primary causes of vagrancy are economic hardship and societal influence. The multi-dimensional issues concerning the economy, public health, and the government’s response to COVID-19 had a detrimental impact on the poor and the vulnerable in the Philippines.