Food poisoning eyed; officials decide against confinement

Raquel Castro was haggard when she and some barangay officials of Caloocan City went to the Mactan Doctors’ Hospital for an examination at 5 a.m. yesterday.

She told the attending nurse that she threw up several times and experienced stomach pain in her hotel room in the Crown Regency Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City.

The night before, she and other barangay officials partook of a dinner buffet in the hotel’s Cebu City branch.

After a few minutes of rest, Castro told the nurse that she was fine and decided to go back to the hotel.

Instead of feeling better, Castro felt worse and a few minutes later she fainted.

“Hindi ko malaman bigla na lang akong nahihilo (I don’t know, I just felt dizzy),” said Castro.

She was rushed by fellow barangay officials back to the Mactan Doctors’ Hospital only to be told that it was fully occupied at the time.

She and other Caloocan City barangay officials spent the last day of their three-day Lakbay Aral tour recovering at the Lapu-Lapu District Hospital.

Castro was one of nearly 50 barangay officials of Caloocan City who fell ill and were confined in two Lapu-Lapu City hospitals.

All of them were initially diagnosed to have sustained acute gastroenteritis, which doctors said may have been caused by the food they ate the night before.

Jasmine Fufunan, Lapu-Lapu City district hospital emergency nurse, said they received a call from Mactan Doctor’s Hospital asking that they transfer some of the ailing barangay officials to them.

She said they declined since they were also filled to capacity.

Organizers of the Lakbay Aral tour of the Caloocan City officials declined to comment and avoided local media.

One barangay chairman who requested anonymity said they spent last Wednesday evening riding the zipline at the Crown Regency Hotel in Osmeña Boulevard and feasting later at the buffet table.

He said the buffet featured vegetables, pork, seafoods and other food items he couldn’t remember.

They went back to the Crown Regency Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City at 12 midnight.

He said he started feeling sick yesterday dawn and repeatedly went to the restroom to throw up and defecate.

He said he also learned that some of his fellow officials also fell ill and were confined at the hospital early in the day.

He said there were 300 of them who joined the Lakbay Aral tour.

Another batch of officials are scheduled to arrive next week for a Lakbay Aral tour in Cebu City, he added.

One of the barangay officials reported the incident to Gun-ob barangay captain Jose Dungog, who then informed the Lapu-Lapu City Health Office.

Dr. Bolivar Miñoza, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City District Hospital, said initial lab tests are inconclusive and they needed more time to verify them.

He said they are not ruling out food poisoning as the cause of the incident.

“They were supposed to be admitted for observation but they signed a waiver to be discharged from the hospital. They said they will just continue medical treatment in Manila,” Miñoza said.

He said they were given oral rehydration solutions and advised to drink plenty of liquids for their trip back home.

Eduardo Sanggol, the manager of Crown Regency Hotel in Osmeña Boulevard, said they will investigate the incident.

“We are checking with our Food and Beverage personnel and from the personalities affected,” he said.