2 kindergarten kids die, 40 others ill in food poisoning

TUGUEGARAO CITY—Two kindergarten pupils died while more than 40 others, including at least three teachers, were taken ill after they ate rice noodles served at a school canteen in this city on Tuesday.

The victims’ parents said they were holding officials of the Larion Bajo Elementary School responsible for the apparent food poisoning and vowed to bring them to court for negligence.

“We will work on the filing of charges against the school officials. We will first take care of the the funeral of our child,” said Melonie Ballad, mother of Eloisa Marie Ballad, 5, one of the two fatalities.

“We have been sending our children to school, hoping that they will be safe there while they are learning. We have to punish those responsible,” said Jessie Bangayan, father of Jessica Mae Bangayan, the second fatality.

The children, reports said, ate sinantak (rice noodle soup) sold at the canteen for their morning snack on Tuesday but they later vomited, complained of headache and weakness, felt dizzy and suffered from diarrhea.

Forty-two other students and teachers showed the same symptoms and were advised by school officials to go home.

Relatives of Eloisa Marie Ballad and Jessica Mae Bangayan thought the children, who were extremely weak, only showed symptoms of a person possessed by bad spirits (locals call it naan-annungan), but the children died while being taken to a hospital in the city on Tuesday.

Remy Taburico said she and the other parents rushed to the school after they were informed of the massive food poisoning.

“We saw some children vomiting and feeling weak so we brought them to the hospital immediately,” Taburico said.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro went to this city on Wednesday to condole with the families of Ballad and Bangayan. He also visited students and teachers confined at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center.

Luistro said the Department of Education (DepEd) regrets the poisoning and promised his department’s support for the victims.

DepEd has formed a committee to investigate. “We will ensure that those [responsible] will be punished,” said Benito Tumamao, DepEd director in Cagayan Valley.

Mayor Delfin Ting said the city government is extending financial assistance to the victims.

Tumamao said the investigating committee was validating reports that the Home Economics teacher who prepared the rice noodles mistook a cleaning powder for salt and put it in the dish.

The teacher, Nicolasa Fresado, has been relieved pending results of the investigation. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon