The series of arrests of minors sniffing the volatile substance, rugby, has alarmed the Women and Children's Concerns Desk of the Dumaguete City Philippine National Police.

SPO1 Juvy Lacandula, desk officer, said most of the arrests were made by patrolling teams of policemen and barangay tanods.

Most of those arrested were among groups of ten to 20 rugby-using minors aged 10 to 18, she also said.

She lamented that adults were helping encourage the vice by buying the substance for the children.

Lacandula also said those arrested, but later released, were the same persons.

For the past few weeks, barangay tanods had arrested several minors caught while sniffing rugby, the latest of which, was last Tuesday when they arrested four minors aged 14 to 16 for violating the curfew hours and sniffing the substance along Pinili Street.

Arresting tanods, Ireno Malangsa, Arman Distrito, Santiago Balunio, and Loreto Rakuya of Barangay Poblacion 3 chanced on a group of boys while they were patrolling the area past 11 p.m.

On sensing the tanods' presence, most of the boys scampered and escaped leaving the four minors behind, Lacandula said.*RG

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