DepEd-QC to ID who was responsible for QC school food poisoning

Education officials in Quezon City have launched their own investigation to determine accountability for the food poisoning in the Juan Sumulong high school that left 10 students hospitalized.

In a phone interview on Sunday, Fredie Avendaño, Department of Education (DepEd) assistant division superintendent for Quezon city schools, described the food poisoning as a “breach of security,” as the Cubao school students were believed to have eaten homemade delicacies sold by an outsider vendor.

The still unidentified vendor, described as a young man in his 20s, allegedly even wore the school uniform to get past the security guard on duty on Thursday morning, Avendaño said, quoting the school principal’s report.

Earlier, the Cubao police station commander, Supt. Marlou Martinez, quoting witnesses, said the vendor claimed to be a “self-supporting student,” and went room-to-room to peddle the delicacies at around 8:45 a.m.

By 10 a.m., eight of the Grade 7 students who ate the candies started to suffer stomach pains and started vomiting. They were immediately rushed to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC). Two more students were brought to the hospital on Friday and Saturday, respectively. All 10 students have been discharged as of Sunday afternoon, QMMC spokesperson doctor Jojo Mercado said.

While police were still trying to determine the vendor’s identity, as of Sunday, Avendaño was not quick to pin the security breach on the guard.

Alhough Avendaño said it was “protocol” for public school guards in the city to check IDs upon the students’ entry, he also said, “It’s difficult to check the gates because of the sheer number of students coming in. And if they bring food [from outside], we don’t have the authority to confiscate it,” the education official said.

Avendaño said they have not verified if the vendor was indeed able to go from room-to-room, which would have easily caught attention. The students who fell ill were all from the same class, Avendaño said.

Although the school has a security camera installed at the gate, on Thursday, there was a technical problem, and it was not in operation, Avendaño said, quoting the principal.

“Although that’s not an excuse,” Avendaño said. In a meeting on Saturday with principals of the city’s district 3 schools, including Juan Sumulong high school, the school officials were advised to take “extra measures and extra precautions” such as checking the quality of food of the school canteens, encouraging the school canteens as the only source of food for students, and being “vigilant” about outsiders coming into the school.

Avendaño expressed optimism for the city government’s upcoming P89-million closed-circuit television camera program for the city’s 142 public schools. Mayor Herbert Bautista already inked an agreement for the program with a supplier last March.

On Monday (July 20), education and health officials in the city will conduct a fact-finding probe at Juan Sumulong high school, to “check liability” and draft “recommendations” for appropriate actions, according to Avendaño.

On the same day, the QMMC is also expecting the results of the Food and Drug Administration testing on the recovered candy samples.