Saturday, December 02, 2006 Health office team denied entry at Tadeco
A TEAM from the Department of Health (DOH) was denied entry by the management of the Tagum Agricultural Development Corporation Inc. (Tadeco) to the company-owned hospital in Panabo city where the victims of chemical inhalation from the nearby town of Braulio Dujali were being observed.
The team from the health department was supposed to get blood samples of the victims who were transferred to the Tadeco Hospital from two others hospitals in Carmen and Panabo City.
At least 79 people, most of them children, were hospitalized after they fell ill, some of them even passed out, after inhaling the fume of toxic chemical used by the Tadeco in their banana plantation operations in Barangay Tanglaw, Braulio Dujali.
Ana Remolar, information officer of the DOH-Southern Mindanao and member of the investigating team, said their objective of getting the needed information from the area was not achieved.
"Hanggang sa gate lang kami and we waited for 20 minutes. Another team from DOH also waited until 7 p.m. only to be told that the Tadeco management is still conducting emergency meeting," Remolar said.
Remolar said that they were able to interview some of the victims and even a number of residents living close to the Tanglaw Elementary School. Some construction workers working on a building of the school said the smell was so strong that they themselves felt sick, too.
Aside from getting blood samples of the victims, the investigating team was also supposed to know how the chemical Mocap, a nematicide, was applied. Nematicide, labeled under category 2 for its toxicity category, should be handled properly.
"According to the information that we got, the workers introduced the chemical through broadcast method. The locals termed this as ‘sabwag’. In areas close to people, nematicides are not supposed to be broadcasted but injected or through poke-hole method," Remolar said.
Had the company allowed them to enter, Remolar said, these issues should have been cleared.
"We have also been trying to get in touch with hospital personnel but they have been refusing to answer our calls. Nevertheless, we will still try to send out team for the most needed investigation," Remolar said.
The Tadeco earlier said that the students and teachers of Tanglaw Elementary School were downed by the strong odor and not toxic fumes.
"The strong odor serves as a repellant for people to avoid areas being treated by the chemical since it is really toxic per se," a Tadeco official who requested anonymity told Sun.Star in a telephone interview Wednesday night.
“Two days before the incident, Lapanday was treating the plantation with the same chemical. The next day they did the same with Tadeco. It was not supposed to have reached the residential area and the school. But because the wind blew in another direction, the chemicals reached the school,” he added.
The students were having their flag ceremony around 7:30 a.m. when about 30 students suddenly collapsed due to inhalation of a chemical known as Mocap.
Mocap's generic name is O-ethyl S.S-dipropyl phosphorodithioate and is used as a soil insecticide-nematicide.
The management of Tadeco expressed regret over the unfortunate incident.
