By: Jennifer P. Rendon
EIGHT teenagers were taken into custody by authorities for abuse of toluene-based substances or ‘rugby.’
Aged 13 to 15 years old, the teenagers were allegedly caught sniffing rugby at Barangay Laguda, La Paz, Iloilo City evening of Sept. 24, 2019.
Rugby, an aromatic hydrocarbon that is widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent, has been considered a cheap “drug alternative” for the city’s street kids.
Of the eight youngsters, six are Atis or members of the indigenous people’s group in the Visayas.
There were four boys and four girls who were caught by Brgy. Captain Dale Francis Jalandonu and Hector Alejano, one of Mayor Jerry Treñas’ executive assistants.
Aside from the eight teenagers, three others were also brought to the police station for safekeeping.
Ann Rapunzel Ganzon, over-all in-charge of Iloilo City’s centers and Institutions and focal person for curfew and women and children’s concern, said they were turned over to her office at the Crisis Intervention Unit.
“The three were not sniffing shabu but they were there at the area where the eight were caught,” she said.
It was gathered that these three other kids were already caught a few years ago for violating the curfew for children.
Despite the arrest, Ganzon said the problem of “solvent kids” is not prevalent in Iloilo City.
She noted though that several Ati kids have been known to sniff solvent.
These kids belong to families who were given shelter at the government’s housing project in Barangay Lanit, Jaro district but are known to hang out in La Paz.
After they were caught, they were made to undergo medical examination, and were told to look after their hygiene since most of them have not taken a bath for several days already.
But Ganzon admitted that intervention won’t stop with the medical examination.
“We would look into the cause why they were on the streets and sniffing solvent,” she said.
Ganzon said her team would talk to the group’s leaders and discuss the appropriate intervention that must be undertaken.
These could mean looking into their parents’ livelihood or the kids’ failing to attend school.
“It’s a whole range of treatment plan that we must study with their elders and community leaders,” she said.
But for now, Ganzon said they would ascertain how addicted the teenagers are to solvent and if they need to be detoxified.
