Duque: DOH to monitor water despite ‘negative’ findings (12:31 p.m.)
MANILA — The Department of Health will continue to monitor toxicity levels in the waters near the sunken ferry Princess of the Stars, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Duque said the ban on fishing and diving in the area will stay, at least until the 10 metric tons pesticide endosulfan are removed from the ferry.
“Mino-monitor natin ang situation diyan. Awa ng Diyos ang pagsusuri negatibo, pero yan baseline lang yan. Aaraw-arawin natin ang monitoring ng tubig kung saan nandoon ang kinalalagyan ng endosulfan pesticide (We will monitor the situation there. Thank God the tests turned out negative but that’s a baseline result. We will have to monitor the water there on a daily basis),” Duque said on government-run dzRB radio.
He said their priority now is to extract the container van containing the pesticide.
Duque also said the divers at the site who were brought to Manila Friday for medical examination have so far shown no signs of poisoning from possible exposure to endosulfan.
He appealed to residents of Romblon and to the public not to get restless, as they will come up with regular updates on the situation.
“Huwag kayong mag-alala, kami ay nasa ibabaw ng sitwasyon at bibigyan namin ng karagdagang information ang publiko (Don’t worry, we are on top of the situation. We will give the public updates as they develop),” he said. (JMR/Sunnex)
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