A girl who fainted while lining up to receive food during the feeding program to celebrate the birthday of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte at the Rizal Park on May 31, 2019 is being carried by 911 Rescue emergency responders on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance. (ORLANDO B. DINOY)
DAVAO CITY —- It was meant to be a happy occasion to celebrate the birthday of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte but in the crash of people, children and adults alike, who wanted to take part in the feeding program at the Rizal Park here, a girl and a man in his 50s collapsed.
The mayor, who is celebrating her 41st birthday today, May 31, was not present in the feeding program handled by her staff at the city government.
The distribution of food began at 8 a.m., with people lining up to over a hundred meters.
As more people came, a girl who had been in the line suddenly fainted past 10:30 a.m.
Responders from the city’s 911 Rescue Unit were seen carrying away the girl, about 10 years old, on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, which whisked her to a still unknown hospital.
The girl fainted because of the heat, according to a responder.
Around 11:30 a.m., another person, a 58-year-old male, also fainted.
The line was long but the “hundreds” who came, some of whom carrying umbrellas, were not unruly and patiently
waited for their turns, according to a city employee who declined to be identified.
The feeding continued after it was momentarily halted when the girl, and later the man, fainted.
FEEDING FRENZY. Hundreds came to take part in the feeding program at Davao City’s Rizal Park hosted by Mayor Sara Duterte to celebrate her 41st birthday on Friday, May 31, 2019. (ORLANDO B. DINOY)
The crowd was feed arroz caldo for breakfast and with paper plate-full of rice, beef stew and pork stew for lunch.
But there was a large crowd that was left unserved when the lunch feeding was halted close to 1 p.m. when the rice ran out.
This prompted the city employees to hastily bring in more beef stew and pancit (noodles) to feed the unserved crowd.
According to the mayor’s staff, Duterte had prepared food for about 10,000 people, to be served at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The rice-and-beef stew dinner, which would be served at 6 p.m., is mainly meant for Muslim residents in the city, who will be breaking their fast this period of Ramadhan.