Cebu Daily News
Teen group is Akrho ‘baby’
By Carine M. Asutilla, Vincent Mayol
Cebu Daily News
10/29/08
CEBU CITY, Philippines - Is it more than a barkada or a casual youth group?
A Barangay (village) Mabolo official said the Independent Human Society (IHS), some of whose teenage members were arrested in a pot session last Sunday, has links to a fraternity, whose gang wars are a repeated source of trouble alarms for Metro Cebu police.
“We got a report that the society was formed by the Akrho,” said Elmer Ruiz, barangay councilor.
The link was confirmed with the arrest of Ronel Banisil, 18, who was charged on Tuesday by police with peddling marijuana following the buy-bust operation in a vacant lot in Mabolo where several other youths were gathered for the Sunday jam session of the IHS.
Banisil, who denied the drug charge, told agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), he was a member of the Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) fraternity.
Police said Banisil was an out-of-school youth from Barangay Looc, Mandaue City with a prior arrest record for illegal drug possession last year. He was out on bail with a case pending in the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court.
PDEA agents said Banisil sold four sticks of marijuana at P15 each to a police agent at the gathering last Sunday. With the new charge, Banisil would not be able to post bail. He was charged with violation of section 5 of Republic Act 9165 or the comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Sixteen other youths, including eight minors, were rounded up during the buy-bust operation. They were mostly high school and college students. Police released them to their parents pending the results of urine analysis to test for possible drug use.
One girl, in an interview, said she would tell her mother she was stepping out on Sundays to attend Mass, but would meet up with friends at the mall, then proceed to their usual meeting place in the vacant lot along Andres Soriano Street which is near the Mabolo police station and commercial establishments.
Barangay Mabolo officials have been observing the activities of the “society”, whose young members would gather Sunday evenings in a vacant lot. Drugs, rowdy behaviour and pre-marital *** were some of the complaints of the village officials.
Not much is known about the origins of the youth gang, whose members wear black t-shirts with the IHS name emblazoned on a Starbucks logo.
Ruiz, a barangay councilor, said the group has almost 300 members, who keep in touch and recruit members by texting on cellphones, and use codes in their messages.
“Bag-o lang nakadawat ko’g report nga namalhin na sila ug laing lugar human sa operasyon sa PDEA, tua na sa may Mandaue City sa abattoir. Naa sad mi nadawat nga report nga kining Independent Human Society, gimugna ni sa Akrho,” said Ruiz.
He said barangay officials have been monitoring the area for months after they received complaints from residents and taxi drivers near the mall who said the youngsters were using drugs in plain view.
Ruiz said barangay tanods (village security officers) tried driving them away a couple of times but the youths kept coming back. He said they noticed the teenagers grouping together in black t-shirts with the society's name on it.
Ruiz said the barangay sought the help of PDEA since many of the youths were from Mandaue City, and not Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
Jessie Tabanao PDEA-7 public information officer said the agency was surprised to find minors in the pot session.
He said PDEA-7 conducts about 10 buy-busts a month but don't encounter minors in illegal drugs yet - until last Sunday's operation.
He said during a two-week surveillance by PDEA agents, they thought the youths involved were older than 18 because they engaged in pot sessions and group ***.
“Who would have thought they would do that. It was only last Sunday when we found out those arrested included minors. Their parents showed up at the office bringing their birth certificates,” he told Cebu Daily News. /With a report by Correspondent Chito Aragon
Independent Human Society (IHS) anak-anak sa Akrho? Your thoughts pls!
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