Wednesday, June 06, 2007 Rugby abuse on the rise By Carlo P. Mallo
NOT only petty crimes among minors, but also abuse of solvent (commonly referred to as Rugby for a brand name of a rubber cement) is on the rise; a rise the police attribute to the audacity of children in conflict with the law (CICLs) to commit crimes because there is no longer the threat of being jailed.
In the Davao Region, 84 cases involving minors has been reported for the first three months of 2007 alone. This is double the number of cases for the whole year of 2006 where only 42 were reported.
The sniffing of the adhesive substance, "rugby," is prohibited under Presidential Act 1619.
While the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 or Republic Act 9344 pushes for diversion and not prosecution of CICLs, it has been earlier reported that the Police Regional Office-Southern Mindanao has blamed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act for the "aggressive" nature of minors today in committing crimes.
Section 2 of Presidential Act 1619 states that, "the use or possession of volatile substances for the purpose of inhalation to induce or produce intoxication or any of the conditions described in the preceding section shall be punishable by imprisonment ranging from six months and one day to four years..."
However, this section of the law has been repealed in effect after the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last year.
Under the said law, children below 18 years old cannot be prosecuted for vagrancy, prostitution, mendicancy, and sniffing of rugby. They are also exempted from the death penalty.
The law also provides that children who are 15 years old and below are exempted from any criminal liability. However, those who are more than 15 years old but below 18 are still exempted from any criminal liability, but would be subject to an intervention program.
