Davao City (CNN Philippines) — Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte readily coordinated with the Surigao del Sur officials with regards to the food poisoning involving durian candies that were allegedly manufactured here.
The acting mayor said that considering that the candies that supposedly poisoned hundreds of students Friday morning (July 10 PHT) came from Davao, he made it a point to contact the local officials of the affected towns and city to assure them that the city government of Davao would aid in the investigation.
Related: Hundreds hospitalized due to candy poisoning in Surigao del Sur
“As Acting Mayor, I am closely coordinating with the city government of Tandag and other provincial officials of the Province of Surigao del Sur regarding this matter,” Duterte said.
“Our City Health Office and the Department of Health are presently conducting an investigation to determine the cause of poisoning and source of the alleged durian and mangosteen candies. We are doing everything to get to the bottom of this. We are attending to this with urgency as this involves public health and is imbued with public interest.”
The acting mayor also urged the public to be vigilant and help authorities gather information regarding this serious matter.
The manufacturer of ‘Wendy’s Durian Candy’ appeared before the Talomo Police here in Davao City Friday afternoon to clear their involvement in the food poisoning in Surigao del Sur this morning that downed hundreds of students, mostly elementary, after eating durian candy bearing their product’s name.
A certain Janet Aquino, whose durian candy shop is located in Maa, appeared before the Davao police station to clarify that they are not behind the selling of their products in Surigao.
Aquino said it is highly possible that their durian candies were repacked and re-sold by the 7 arrested vendors. The manufacturer said their durian candies have only six months shelf life and the ones distributed in Surigao could have already expired.
The manufacturer admitted though that they have bulk buyers from Surigao but could not say for certain if the arrested vendors are one of their buyers.
Seven people were arrested by the police in relation to the food poisoning. Five of the suspects are in Cagwait PNP while two others are in Tandag City PNP.
The arrested suspects in Cagwait were identified as Richard Rivera Jr., Junnil Teriote, John Dequilla, Joel Pasa, and Martinez Bocaycay. All are residents of Calinan, Davao City. An L300 van with plate number MEM-366 used by the arrested suspects was also put into custody.
The arrested suspects in Tandag City are meanwhile identified as Genelyn Dorgas Pasa of Bucana Boulevard, Davao City and Henrito Bitco Amoguis of Valencia, Bukidnon.
Also read: Fake rice seized in Davao submitted for lab analysis
