Bolinao food poisoning case: 1 dead

DAGUPAN CITY—A woman is dead and eight other residents of Bolinao town in Pangasinan province had been taken ill after eating mussels on Wednesday and Thursday, according to authorities.

Dr. Jeremy Rosario, assistant provincial health officer, said Manilyn Conde, 20, of Barangay Ilog Malino in Bolinao died on Wednesday while she and four others were being taken to the town’s community hospital.

The four others—Saniata Baliton, 33, of Barangay Balingasay, Judy Danao, 74, of Barangay Zaragosa and Ruben de Guzman Jr., 48, and Bernardo Clave, 34, both of Barangay Ilog Malino—were treated at Western Pangasinan District Hospital in Alaminos City, Rosario said in a news briefing here.

Fred Castelo, Bolinao town administrator, said four children from Barangay Ilog Malino were taken to a hospital at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

“We have ordered the people to stop gathering, selling and eating mussels and other shellfish in Bolinao,” he said.

He said Bolinao was still free from red tide, which had hit the neighboring town of Bani.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had declared Alaminos City last week as red-tide-free after almost two months. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon