DAVAO CITY – The local authorities in Tagum City are closely watching outlets of solvent as most of the children who were involved in crimes were found to be under the influence of the said chemical.
Tagum City Police information officer, PInsp. Anjanette P. Tirador revealed that most of the children rescued from involvement in crimes, specially robbery and theft, were found under the influence of solvents.
“Though most of them are not from Tagum City, but they are found under the influence of solvents,” she said in a dispatch from the Philippine Information Agency.
Tirador said they are sending letters to owners of hardware and solvent outlets to “prohibit them from selling solvents to children as mandated in the provisions of PD 1619.”
Selling of solvents to children is in violation of Presidential Decree No. 1619 otherwise known as “Penalizing the Use or Possession or the Unauthorized Sale to Minors of Volatile Substances for the Purpose of Inducing Intoxication or in Any Manner Changing, Distorting or Disturbing the Auditory, Visual or Mental Processes”.
Section 5 of the Decree states that “(t)he sale of, and offer to sell, volatile substances to minors without requiring the written consent of their parents or guardians as a condition for such sale or offer to sell shall be punishable by imprisonment ranging from six months and one day to four years and a fine ranging from six hundred to four thousand pesos: Provided, That when the minor is eighteen years or over and is duly licensed to drive a motor vehicle, such written consent shall not be necessary when the volatile substance sold or offered for sale is gasoline or any other motive fuel for motor vehicles”. (davaotoday.com)
