He is just one of the many street children who have fallen prey to the drug menace in the country and is the youngest self-confessed polydrug user in the street children project of the Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), a Belgium-based international humanitarian organization.
According to Dr. Maria Luisa de Leon-Miranda of MSF, 50 percent of the street children taken in by the project are self-confessed polydrug users, 69 percent of whom are male and 31 percent female.
Majority of them engaged in prostitution and admitted that they had to use drugs (rugby and/or shabu) before the sex act. Some of them were treated for sexually-transmitted diseases.
Of the 60 pregnant girls admitted from 1996 up to the present, 88 percent lived on the streets, 90 to 95 percent of them, polydrug users. The youngest is a 14-year-old girl who has had three pregnancies, including one abortion, sired by different partners.
Miranda said that there is an increasing number of street children who have resorted to taking illegal drugs to escape their worries of how to survive. They are easy targets for syndicates involved in the illegal-drug trade because their poverty makes them extremely vulnerable.
"Money is not an issue for street children. The modus operandi of these syndicates is to first offer the drugs to the children for free. After the children have become addicted and begin to ask for more drugs, the drug pushers demand that they become prostitutes or couriers to get their desired drugs," she said.
Dr. Rosendo Sualog, an accredited doctor of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), said that drug addiction among children in the country has cut across borders separating the rich from the poor.
"Children who have money are as vulnerable as street children. The issue here is the easy accessibility of the drugs and the intricate networking of syndicates and drug pushers to peddle drugs successfully," he said.
He added that the country also lacks qualified and competent rehabilitation centers and personnel to render effective treatment of victims of substance abuse.
However, he claims there have been great strides in curbing the proliferation of drugs and drug-dependents in the country. One is the constant support given by the DDB, which was created in 1972, to address the illegal drug problem.
"The drug situation in the country would have been worse if not for the DDB. Over the years, the DDB has been directly involved mainly in dismantling drug laboratories and in giving training programs for drug handlers like medical practitioners, law enforcers and pharmacists," he said.
He also averred that a multi-sectoral approach involving the concerted efforts of local government units, private sector and non-government organizations will help ensure that the battle against drugs can be won.