Department of Education (DepEd) officials have launched an investigation to determine who should be held accountable for the food poisoning incident at Juan Sumulong High School in Cubao, Quezon City, which sent 10 students to the hospital.
In a phone interview on Sunday, Fredie Avendaño, DepEd assistant division superintendent for Quezon City schools, described the incident as a “breach of security” as the food poisoning was traced to homemade candies sold by an outsider.
Quoting the school principal’s report, Avendaño said that the still unidentified vendor—described as a young man in his 20s—reportedly got past the security guard on duty on Thursday morning because he was dressed like one of the students.
Earlier, Cubao police station commander Supt. Marlou Martinez, quoting witnesses, said the vendor had introduced himself as a self-supporting student. He reportedly went from classroom to classroom to offer the homemade macapuno candies he was selling starting at 8:45 a.m.
By 10 a.m., eight of the Grade 7 students who ate the candies complained of stomach pains and started vomiting. They were immediately taken to the nearby Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC).
Two more students were brought to the hospital on Friday and Saturday, respectively, some of them ending up at the intensive care unit. Fortunately, their condition improved and by Sunday afternoon, the 10 students— all belonging to the same class—had been discharged, QMMC spokesperson Dr. Jojo Mercado said.
While policemen were still trying to determine the vendor’s identity, Avendaño said he was not about to pin the blame on the school security guard.
He pointed out that although it was standard procedure for school guards to check the identification cards of students upon entry, “it’s difficult to [do so] because of the sheer number of students coming in.”
He added: “And if they bring food [from outside], we don’t have the authority to confiscate it.”
Avendaño noted that even though the school has a security camera installed at the gate, it was not operational last Thursday due to a technical problem.
In a meeting on Saturday with the principals of schools belonging to the city’s third district, including Juan Sumulong, DepEd officials urged them to take “extra measures and extra precautions” such as checking the quality of food in their canteens, encouraging students to eat only in school canteens and becoming more “vigilant” against outsiders who may try to enter their schools.
At the same time, Avendaño expressed optimism that security in the city’s 142 public schools would be tightened with the city government’s upcoming P89 million closed-circuit television camera program. The agreement with a supplier was signed by Mayor Herbert Bautista last March.
Meanwhile, the city’s education and health officials will conduct a fact-finding probe at Juan Sumulong High School today to “check liability” and draft “recommendations” for appropriate actions, Avendaño said.
The QMMC also said it was expecting to receive Monday the results of the tests conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on some of the macapuno candies recovered from the students.