The legal team of the Department of Education (DepEd) – Bohol will decide on what actions will be taken against those responsible for the suspected food poisoning of 79 students and other delegates during the 3rd Congressional District Athletic Meet 2019 in Candijay after an investigation.

According to Desiderio Deligero, chief of DepEd’s School Governance and Operations Division in the province, the agency’s legal officer was deployed to Alicia to start the conduct of an investigation on Monday morning.

“Mo-hapit to og Candijay unya mo deretso og Alicia para mo-conduct og investigation aron mahibaw-an og unsa g’yuy nahitabo,” he said.

The food poisoning happened in Candijay but it was the Alicia school district which was tasked to oversee the food preparation for the CAMAG (Candijay, Alicia, Mabini, Anda, Guindulman) Team.

Athletes of the CAMAG delegation started to show symptoms of food poisoning such as stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea as early as Friday afternoon last week, leading to the hospitalization of dozens of student-athletes and school personnel.

As of Monday noon, only eight students and one teacher remained at the Candijay Community Hospital, Deligero said.

“Padung na pud sila ma discharge,” he added.

Initial information gathered by the DepEd indicated that spoiled pork due to improper storage caused the food poisoning among the delegates.

“Gi-ihaw kuno to og Miyerkules unya mura’g na-serve pa until Friday. Unya ting-init pud dali siguro nadaot ang karne,” Deligero said.

Candijay Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (MDRRMO) Jeryl Lacang-Fuentes, in a statement, said that the town’s Rural Health Unit immediately ordered meat and meat products from the CAMAG kitchen to be thrown away “as they were not properly stored.”

This was after health authorities reported to the MDRRMO eight cases of gastroenteritis secondary to food poisoning among athletes on Friday afternoon, she added.

Meanwhile, the DepEd deployed teams including medical personnel to Candijay and other areas in the five-town sub district to follow up on the food poisoning victims.

“Among gi-instruct na kadtong mga naka-uli na ipa-follow up gihapon kung unsay status, okay ba ilang condition kay kung dili ipabalik namo,” said Deligero. (A. Doydora)