A TERTIARY institution in Davao City has yet to issue an official statement as to how its students got food poisoning on Monday, October 23, 2023.
According to a report from Sta. Ana Police Station, 32 students suffered from food poisoning allegedly after eating "pastil", which was one of the items sold to the students during a three-day fund-raising event at the school.
Pastil is a Filipino rice dish made from steamed rice with dry shredded beef, chicken, or fish and wrapped in banana leaves.
“Natala tanan ang 32 ka mga estudyante nga gipanakitan og tiyan, sila tanan niingon nga pastil ilang nakaon nga ilang napalit atol sa ilang fund-raising event sa school (A total of 32 students were reported to suffer stomachache and all of them said they have eaten pastil sold during the fund-raising event at the school), Police Captain Rizalito Clapiz III, Sta. Ana Police Station Deputy Station Commander said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, October 24, 2023, Clapiz said the school had not issued a statement regarding the incident.
In the report from Sta. Ana Police, students were allowed to sell various types of items or food within the campus to raise funds to be used in the community outreach program during the three-day school event.
With this, some students bought pastil outside the campus and sold them during the event inside the school. Students believed that this was the cause of food poisoning of those who had eaten the pastil.
Fourteen students were first reported to be taken to San Pedro Hospital and one was taken to Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, Inc. (MDMRCI) in Bajada after they experienced stomachache, vomiting, and dizziness around 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Eighteen students were also recorded to have been brought to the school clinic, according to Clapiz.
Dr. John Perret O. Herrera of the San Pedro Hospital said that the students have already undergone rectal swab and are waiting for the laboratory results.
Herrera added that they are coordinating with the Department of Health, particularly Davao City Health as well as the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) to quickly find out the cause of the alleged food poisoning.
“Nagpadayon ang atong imbestigasyon sa hitabo, atong gipasubay katong posible nga gipalitan sa mga estudyante sa gawas sa ilang eskuwelahan, nagpaabot pod ta sa pamahayag sa school, aron masumpay sa atong gilusad nga imbestigasyon (Our investigation on the incident continues, we are tracing the possible vendor who sold the students the pastil outside the school. Meantime, we are awaiting the statement of the school to connect to our ongoing investigation),” Clapiz told Superbalita Davao.
SunStar Davao and SuperBalita Davao's line is open for the school's side on the matter. JPC