BAGUIO CITY -- Over a hundred elementary pupils in Mankayan, Benguet were poisoned by candies and snack items reportedly dumped under a bridge in one of the town's villages.

The Municipal Council declared Mankayan town under a state of calamity following the incident.

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Councilor Willy Mendoza said 115 elementary pupils were rushed to the town's Rural Health Unit (RHU) and Lepanto Community Hospital.

The pupils from Palatong Elementary School reportedly consumed candies, cookies, and chips that were found dumped under the Tabbac Bridge in Barangay Sapid.

Initial assessment of RHU and Lepanto Hospital showed that the students suffered from abdominal pains, dizziness, and nausea after eating the snack items.

The victims' ages ranged from four to 13 years old.

Mendoza said the council called an emergency meeting recently and passed an ordinance declaring the town under a state of calamity.

He said Mankayan Police Chief Fernando Botangen immediately brought samples of the snack items to the regional office of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) for further analysis.

Satur Paciteng, executive secretary of Mayor Manalo Galuten, said eight pupils are still confined at the RHU as of Tuesday morning.

Authorities have yet to determine who left the 11 sacks of candies under the bridge, although the municipal police have already identified the manufacturers of the commodities that were locally made.

Paciteng said some of the candies were covered in wrappers with Chinese markings.

Mendoza said the Municipal Government allotted an initial amount of P150,000 to be given as assistance to the victims and to serve as stand-by funds for other emergencies.

He added that the office of Governor Nestor Fongwan has already sent various medicines for the victims, through the Abatan Emergency Hospital.

According to Senior Police Officer 3 John Barry Agurin of the Mankayan Police, seven pupils found the candies while they were on their way to school around 6:50 a.m. Tuesday.

The kids reportedly filled their school bags with candies and snack foods and distributed these to their schoolmates.

Around 12 p.m., Agurin said police were alerted about the incident and immediately responded to reports of pupils complaining of abdominal pains and dizziness.

An unidentified vehicle left the sacks of candies under the Tabbac Bridge, the police official said.

"Those aboard the vehicle might have mistaken the area as a creek because of the presence of the bridge, and decided to dump the candies there. Unfortunately, the area is not a creek; the bridge was only constructed because of a landslide," he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Samples of the snack items were also brought to the BFAD central office in Metro Manila for testing, as the regional office lacked equipment needed for the analysis. (Jane Cadalig/Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)

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(December 3, 2008 issue)
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