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Saturday, March 12, 2005
Probers see pesticide as cause of poisoning
* Palace appeals for patience on probe of Bohol poisoning
TOXICOLOGISTS deployed by the Department of Health (DOH) are leaning toward the ingestion of pesticide-contaminated snack food as the cause of poisoning of grade school pupils in Mabini, Bohol.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said four victims showed symptoms of pesticide poisoning or organo phosphate poisoning.
However, Dayrit said the findings are not yet conclusive since the toxicologists are still investigating the matter.
"Just at a distance we were saying that some of the patients were actually manifesting this, bumubula yung bunganga (their mouth was frothing) and all of that and that was consistent with organo phosphate (poisoning) although I'm not saying it's the one but it was consistent with that and the other thing is that when the patients admitted to the hospital were responding to atropine sulfate. That is the antidote for the organo phosphate poisoning, we have a different antidote for cyanide," Dayrit said.
He said the toxicologists have secured samples of the food in question and blood of the victims for laboratory testing to give them a clearer view of the cause of the poisoning.
"We're still speculating of course but with the laboratory results, hopefully we'll know for sure how it happened," Dayrit said.
Dayrit said the cassava cakes might have been badly cooked and that the cyanide content of the root crops might have not been removed while in organo phosphate contamination, it is likely that the container of cooking oil was contaminated by the pesticide.
Among the symptoms of cassava or cyanide poisoning, according to Dayrit, is difficulty in breathing while organo phosphate or pesticide poisoning involves the stimulation of the parasympathetic system, which leads to diarrhea, frothing of the mouth, seizures and then coma.
Twenty-seven deaths have been recorded while 77 were hospitalized following the incident.
Dayrit ruled out the possibility of rat poisoning as he explained that racumin, a pesticide used to kills rats, has different chemical components.
"It's a different poison altogether," Dayrit said, adding that the mere fact that the cases and deaths are high, there was "high concentration of poison in the food".
Dayrit said they are coordinating with the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to resolve the case.
Meanwhile, Press secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye urged the public to wait for the results of the investigation on the Bohol mass poisoning incident instead of debating on its cause.
Bunye issued the statement following a declaration from Bohol Bishop Christian Noel that what happened in Bohol was God's way of showing displeasure over government's "Ligtas Buntis" program.
"We just would like to express our condolences to the affected families and we do not want to speculate on the causes of this," he said.
"What we'd like to happen is that appropriate steps should be taken by all government agencies, the education department, local health authorities so that these things will not happen again. We don't need to engage anybody on any debate on this and we just would like to see to it that other children will not be victims of the same incident," he said.
He said what should be done is to pray for those who have suffered and wait for the results of the "scientific" investigation of the police and the health department.
He said the investigation should be finished "as soon as possible."
Bunye said no one is to blame for the early burial of the bodies because it would depend on the local authorities shouldering the burial expenses.
"We know that different families have different beliefs on the period and manner of burial of their loved ones. The important thing is that they have been laid to rest but the investigation of this incident will continue," he said.
Bunye said government is standing by its responsible parenthood program and "Ligtas Buntis" project, which he said, "should be supported by the citizens of the Philippines.
"They (Catholic Church leaders) have their opinion and they're entitled to it but we have our policy and that has been enunciated and that population policy will be implemented," he said.
He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a devout Catholic, will try to "dialogue with all sectors that need some further explanation" on the population program but she is "firm on her policy."
Arroyo has said the Church should not refuse communion to health workers who promote the "Ligtas Buntis" program because the act is not excommunicable.
Asked whether Arroyo would put the program in the backburner if she collides with the Catholic Church, Bunye said: "We don't have any indications to that effect. She has a job to do and she's doing it. (MSN/RB)
(March 12, 2005 issue)
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