DepEd probes food poisoning incident

AT least 68 people, mostly students, were brought to two private hospitals in Cebu City last Thursday night after reportedly suffering from food poisoning.

The victims were participants of the 2nd National Musabaqah Skills Exhibition competition, a five-day Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) competition for Muslim learners in public schools nationwide.

They reportedly had squid stew and tuna sandwiches shortly before they started getting sick.

Following the incident, the Department of Education 7 said it will investigate to find out where the food came from and whether it was contaminated.

Nagiel Bañacia, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) head, said that his office received the first wave of admissions at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Bañacia said that they received calls for assistance from education officials at Ecotech Center in Barangay Lahug in Cebu City, where the convention was held.

He said that more people from the convention were starting to get sick, forcing him to deploy more ambulances and other emergency personnel to the scene.

Majority of the participants who were brought to the hospitals had suffered from stomachache, vomiting and diarrhea.

As of 6:22 a.m. yesterday, at least 61 participants were being treated at the Perpetual Succour Hospital, while seven others were treated at the Cebu Doctors’ Hospital.

Bañacia said that some of the participants were discharged hours after receiving treatment from both hospitals.

DepEd 7 public information officer Amaryllis Villarmia said that as of yesterday afternoon, only four participants are still being treated at the hospitals.

Some of them were only treated as out-patients, Villarmia said.

She said that due to the incident, DepEd 7 officials led by Dr. Juliet Jeruta are investigating whether or not the food served to the students came from the Ecotech canteen, which supplies food for the participants.

But Villarmia does not discount the possibility that the food that made the participants sick may have been brought from outside the event area.