‘Rugby boys, girls’ netted in La Paz

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Twenty-two girls and boys who were allegedly into solvent use were netted early Wednesday morning in La Paz district, Iloilo City.

Joint operatives of La Paz Police Station, Task Force Badjao, and Task Force on Moral Values Formation (TFMVF) collared the youngsters at Barangay Laguda.

Sixteen of the 22 are minors while the other six are of legal age.

It was gathered that Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has ordered to round up these “solvent boys and girls” for acting unruly at the Esplanade area.

Aside from rugby use, it was also alleged that some of them could be into prostitution.

The minors were readily turned over to the City Social Welfare and Development Office while those of age were brought to the Iloilo City Police Station 2.

The team was able to seize plastic bottles of rugby in the area.

In September 2019, authorities also took into their custody eight youngsters after they were caught using solvent.

Aged 13 to 15 years old, the teenagers were allegedly sniffing rugby when caught at Barangay Laguda, La Paz.

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 Ati, an ethnic group in the Visayas.

Meanwhile, the Iloilo City Police Office-Women and Children’s Protection Desk (ICPO-WCPD) said that rugby use is not rampant in the metropolis.

“Although, there were reports of rugby use among youngsters in some areas in La Paz,” Police Captain Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson, said.

But Sangrines said management of juveniles involved in rugby use is mainly with the social workers.

Minors who were caught sniffing rugby could not also be charged since it is decriminalized.

In the recent months, Sangrines said they have no records of solvent boys and girls who were involved in crimes.