Sweets down 172 schoolchildren in Laguna

Ice Candy. STOCK PHOTO

SAN PEDRO CITY – At least 172 students from a public school in Calamba City in Laguna were brought to different hospitals in the city after showing signs of food poisoning Friday.
In a phone interview, Calamba City Mayor Justic Marc Chipeco said the victims were students from Real Elementary School.
The school, he said, hosted a training-workshop for the students this morning.
It had invited a Manila-based foundation to give the training and which also served the children sweets, among them ice candies and cupcakes.

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After the meal, the students started complaining of stomach pains.

In a separate interview, Rommel Palacol of the Laguna Action Center of the provincial government, said 101 students were brought to the Calamba Medical Center; 45 to the Pamana Medical Hospital; 22  to St. John the Baptist Medical Center; and 4 to JP Rizal Memorial Hospital, all located in the city.
“Our health officer had already taken samples of the food (served to the children) to test if it contained toxins,” Chipeco said.
The mayor did not immediately disclose the name of the foundation but he said the city government would file charges against it if test results showed it was responsible for the food poisoning.