CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the problem involving rugby boys is a result of bad or the lack of parental guidance, where parents failed to do their obligation to guide their children.
“The issue about rugby will always boil down to absence of parental guidance and poverty,†the mayor said.
Rama said the police should also do their task to track down these unscrupulous dealers of rugby who sell their products to minors who are drug dependents.
And the mayor is correct in saying that the problem on rugby boys is caused by the lack of parental guidance. A rugby boy said he left their home in Barangay Carreta after his father died and his mother moved in with another man.
A 1995 report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse said the most serious inhalant abuse occurs among children and teenagers who are living in the streets without family ties.
But the hands of police authorities are also tied when it comes to apprehending children caught sniffing rugby and other volatile substances. Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare System, prohibits them from arresting minor offenders. (FREEMAN)