Regions Briefs
Warning out vs 5 ‘lambanog’ brands
SAN PEDRO CITY — Health officials in Laguna province have warned the public against drinking five local brands of “lambanog,” a coconut-based liquor, saying these either lacked a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval or were found to be toxic for human consumption.
The public warning was based on the advisory issued by the FDA to Calamba City after testing lambanog samples from Laguna, where four people in Calamba and another four in Sta. Rosa City died in December shortly after consuming the alcoholic drink.
Dr. Dennis Labro, Calamba City health officer, said these brands were Bossing Tumador, which police earlier traced to a manufacturer in Candelaria town in Quezon province; and Banayad Pure Lambanog, Magsino’s Lambanog, CJ Purong Lambanog and Adan Lambanog Station, all of which came from San Juan town, Batangas province.
Police reports said the eight fatalities drank Bossing Tumador, which local stores sold in plastic water bottles.
Labro said the FDA tested two unopened bottles of Bossing Tumador and one opened bottle, which all showed “high or toxic levels of methanol” that caused the victims’ poisoning. —Maricar Cinco
Dr. Florentino Alejo Martin; 88
Dr. Florentino Alejo Martin, a practicing urologist in Kentucky and the province of Palawan, died of heart attack on Jan. 4. He was 88.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma Fernandez Martin, and children Patricia and Patrick, Jean Marie and Louis, and his grandchildren.
His remains lie in state at Saint Alphonsus de Liguori Parish in Barangay Magallanes, Makati City.
Burial will be on Friday, Jan. 11, after the 1 p.m. service at Eternal Gardens Memorial Park in Baesa, Quezon City.
