Lambanog kills 11, downs over 300
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2019 08:43:45 +0000
VICTIMS of lambanog poisoning wait at a temporary holding area for treatment at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City on Monday. (Mark Balmores)
Police commanders in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) were ordered on Monday to visit and compel all store owners in the region to stop selling lambanog (coconut wine) following the death of 11 people and hospitalization of more than 300 others possibly due to poisoning in Rizal town of Laguna and Candelaria in Quezon.
Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, director of the Calabarzon regional police, said he also instructed all chiefs of police in the region to coordinate with local government units for the identification and visit of all lambanog manufacturers in the region in order to ensure the safety of the coconut wine production.
“This is to ensure public safety because of what happened in Laguna and Quezon. We do not want more people to buy and suffer the same fate,” Danao said Monday.
Danao said the report of lambanog poisoning is alarming, noting that it is one of the favorite wines in remote areas of Laguna and Quezon provinces.
“We want to ensure that all the lambanog products are safe for consumption. This is the reason why we are coordinating with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration),” the official said.
Once a clearance from FDA is issued, it is the only time that store owners would be allowed to sell.
Danao said that the reported poisoning may have something to do with the storage of lambanog, noting that the coconut wine is possibly turning into an alcohol after weeks and months of storage.
If the store owners would defy his order, all the lambanog will immediately be confiscated, he said.
It was in a birthday celebration in Rizal town of Laguna where there was the biggest number of casualty was reported with seven dead and more or less 100 others hospitalized, according to Police Col. Eleazar Matta, director of the Laguna Provincial Police Office.
He identified the fatalities as Maricris Dimayuga, 24; Cenon Piedra, 60; Ricky Vitangcol; Analyn Lanuza, 34; Marlon Veridiano; Rizalino Monserat; Jason Navorroza; Benedicto Mendoza, and Elmer Dorado.
The 10th fatality which was reported by Rizal Municipal Health Office was Luis Urriquia who reportedly died at the Philippine General Hospital.
Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson of the Calabarzon regional police, said the drinking session occurred on Friday night at the house of one of the fatalities, Analyn Lanuza, in Barangay Pook in Rizal town.
“There was a celebration at the house of the victim because it was the first birthday of her daughter,” Gaoiran said.
At midnight on Saturday, Lanuza was taken to the hospital along with Maricris Dimayuga and a certain Jethro Balana due to severe abdominal pains.
Both Lanuza and Dimayuga later died in the hospital, according to Gaoiran.
Reports said there were other party guests who were taken to the hospital.
“There were leftover coconut wine and these were taken to the Crime Laboratory for examination,” said Matta.
Based on the initial investigation, the coconut wine was bought at the stores owned by Emma Ocaya and Orlando Mapa.
DRINKING SESSION
In Candelaria town, 54-year old farmer Ernesto Aguilar died after consuming lambanog in a drinking session with six of his friends and neighbors, according to Gaoiran.
Gaoiran said that the drinking session occurred on Thursday night in Sitio centro in Barangay Catalina. Two days later or on Saturday, Aguilar and some of his drinking buddies had to be taken to the hospital due to abdominal pains.
“Aguilar actually went unconscious. He died due to acute respiratory syndrome,” said Gaoiran, quoting a report from the Quezon Provincial Police Office.
Two more victims, 54-year old tricycle driver Fernando Balmes Aguilar and 25-year old tricycle driver Christian Duarte Aguilar, are currently in comatose.
The four other victims were already discharged from the hospitals where they sought medical treatment.
According to the report, the victims bought the lambanog in a store owned by Nicanor delos Reyes.
The coconut wine were taken to the Food and Drug Administration for laboratory examination.