Halo-halo downs 31 farm workers in Ecija

RIZAL, NUEVA ECIJA – “Halo-halo” downed 31 farm workers in this agricultural municipality on Wednesday (Feb. 28), police said.

The workers took a break from uprooting grass at an onion farm in Barangay (village) Estrella and refreshed themselves with halo-halo prepared by farm owner Lina Guting, at 10:30 a.m., said Chief Insp. Manuel Catacutan, town police chief.

The farm workers suffered nausea and vomiting an hour later and were brought to the town’s Rural Health Unit (RHU). They were transferred to the Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center (PJGMRMC) for further treatment, and have been discharged.

Catacutan said the workers would not file charges against Guting, who was also hospitalized along with her family.

The halo-halo ingredients have been submitted to the Nueva Ecija police crime laboratory office in Cabanatuan City for examination. /lb