TARLAC CITY — PSInsp. Joy Turaray, Commander of Police Community Precinct 2, and other police personnel rescued two street children in front of a 7-Eleven convenient store at the Tarlac State University area in San Vicente on May 30, 2017.
PCInsp. Jim Tayag, Deputy Chief of Police and Police Community Relations Officer, confirmed the children were sniffing adhesive solvent or ‘rugby’ in small plastic bags after inspecting the substance and interviewing the children.
Street monitoring to prevent the spread of solvent abuse among minors is constantly being done by the police, supervised by City Police Chief PSupt. Bayani Razalan with the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).
Carolyn Serrano, a Social Worker from CSWDO, provided counseling to the two boys who were brought to the Tarlac City Police Station and were released to the father afterwards.
CSWD Officer-In-Charge Jimbo Soriano said ‘rescue’ is a more appropriate action rather than ‘apprehension’ since solvent-sniffing users are mostly minors.
Soriano said parents must be included in the counseling sessions to make them aware of the effects of this harmful habit and to encourage them to guide their children.
Soriano also said he would usually task the abusers to perform community service such as sweeping at the city plaza, to make them somehow feel the consequence of committing this ruinous behavior.
The City Government calls for vigilance among the residents here by reporting solvent and other dangerous substance abusers to the police or CSWD.
These can also be reported through the Facebook Page of the City Information Office.
This type of abuse has been a persistent problem not only here in Tarlac City since users, who experience alcohol-like intoxification when sniffing, can get ‘rugby’ for cheaper prices compared to cigarettes and alcohol./Tarlac CIO