Muntinlupa drug addicts get high on roof sealant 'Vulca Seal'

The roof sealant “Vulca Seal" is normally used to plug leaks on roofs, but some drug addicts in Muntinlupa City are now using it to "get high." "Danny," (not his real name) a 46-year-old jeepney barker in Alabang, said, “this is our new substitute for rugby," as he inhaled vapors from a plastic bag containing a patch of Vulca Seal. He admitted that almost everything he earns — P5 per filled jeepney— is spent for his vice. Another Vulca Seal addict alleged that local authorities in the city are lax in dealing with Vulca Seal addicts. “They will just bring us to the precinct and ask us for their pang-yosi (cigarette money). Later on, we are already set free," said 10-year-old “Rico." The addicts claimed that they shifted from using rugby, a synthetic adhesive, to Vulca Seal after rugby manufacturers integrated garlic oil into the adhesive to make it unappealing to sniffing addicts. “Nakakahilo kasi yung amoy noong bawang kaya ayaw na namin ng rugby kahit na mas sulit yon (The garlic scent makes us feel shaky, that is why we are not buying rugby anymore even if it is cheaper)," Danny said. A small bottle of rugby costs roughly P65 while a sealant in a tetra-pack is worth around P45. However, Danny said they usually purchase Vulca Seal in big volumes outside of Muntinlupa City because hardware stores in the city do not allow people to purchase Vulca Seal and rugby easily. “Our store’s management ordered us to scrutinize the consumers buying rugby and sealants. If we find them to be suspicious, we immediately say that we ran out of stock," said Christian Ramos, a sales clerk from one of the hardware stores here. “They (addicts) are easy to distinguish, so even if they say they are not addicts, we disallow them from purchasing Vulca Seal," said Pacheco Partosa, son of the owner of a general merchandise store here. Some people claim that some addicts steal goods from market stalls and sell these at a lower price. The addicts reportedly use the money they earn from selling stolen goods to buy rugby and sealant. “They will filch anything they see that can be a source of income for them to buy their rugby and sealants," said Arnel Cueto, a Muntinlupa resident. However, he said that not all addicts are pilfering just to have money for their vices; some are like “Danny" who are working but are using their income for their vices. Muntinlupa City won a Galing Pook Award in 2003 for the work of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Office (DAPCO) that does surveillance and drug buy-bust operations. The city even has its own drug-testing laboratory that can screen for the use of marijuana, shabu, and ecstasy. The local government also operates a Muntinlupa Renewal Home to rehabilitate drug dependents. Muntinlupa also has Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs) as well as a text hotline for reporting drug addicts. A staff of DAPCO, who asked not to be identified, said that while the city has no specific ordinance against Vulca Seal and rugby use, both substances are technically covered by the city’s anti-drug laws. –VVP, GMANews.TV The author is a third year journalism student at the University of Santo Tomas. This article was written as part of the community news wire project of their class.