FIFTEEN-year-old Robert is every mother's ideal son. He is responsible, obedient, kind, and generally well-behaved-traits that did not escape his classmates who chose him as class president.

About a month ago, though, Robert's mother, Sophia, noticed that he had become unusually quiet and withdrawn. "I thought he had been jilted," recalls Sophia. "And then his elder brother told me that my son had a problem and that I should to talk to him."

And what a problem her golden boy had: Robert had run up P90,000 in debt after betting on the results of the U.S.-based National Basketball Association (NBA) games through a bookie. A classmate, who acted as debt collector, was now harassing Robert with persistent phone calls to his home, as well as calls and text messages on his mobile. The classmate would later even tell Sophia, who had answered the phone at home, that Robert must pay — or else.

Robert's parents paid his gambling debts with money from his savings account; his classmate collected the P90,000 check from Sophia's office and cashed it himself.

For Robert and his family, that was the end of that. But sports gambling — specifically betting on basketball games — is still going on strong in many private high schools and colleges in Metro Manila, and there are indications that more and more students are being drawn in. And while the bets start as low as P10, school administrators and parents who have been alerted to the practice say some youngsters who are still learning algebra have managed to rack up six-figure debts.

An anti-crime organization also cites the case of a female student of an exclusive college in the Pasig-San Juan-Mandaluyong area who lost almost P20 million after trying to recover previous losses. Unable to pay her debts and repeatedly threatened by the bookie, her family was forced to transfer residence; the student had to drop out from school.

No one is sure when such serious sports gambling began invading schools in the metropolis. There are indications that it is a fairly recent phenomenon, although that cannot be ascertained because those involved are usually very discreet. Anti-crime activist Teresita Ang See says the schools and parents of the students who have gotten entangled in sports gambling would rather keep silent because of the possible stigma of a scandal, as well as fear of reprisals from those behind the operations.

But it has apparently become so rampant that in one high school, only three students in a class of 40 have yet to place any bets.

So far, no one seems to have gotten in touch with law enforcers to tackle the problem. But some school administrators have undertaken independent investigations, and one of them has learned that at least five groups of syndic