. CEBU CITY - A 13-year-old girl died while five others were hospitalized after they ate an octopus, locally known as "tabugok", for supper inside their house in this city.
Daisy Fernandez died at the Cebu City Medical Center due to the alleged food poisoning. Physicians at the government-owned hospital, however, said they still have not taken samples of the octopus to determine what caused the poison.
Confined at the hospital where the victim's brother Gerald, 9; grandparents Prema and Cayetano Abaño; uncle Rosillo Abaño; and a playmate who was not identified.
The victims began vomiting and feeling dizzy several minutes after eating the octopus.
The case of the symptoms was initially recorded as food poisoning as city hospital director, Dr. Myrna go, said it could be the preparation of the food or the tabugok itself.
The Fernandez kids, residents of Barangay Pasil visited their grandparents who reside in Sitio Alaska, Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City. It was there where they all took their supper.
Victoria Fernandez, the mother, said the tabugok was his father Cayetano's catch that day and it was the only viand the victims had eaten.
She suspected that the food was prepared without removing the head of the tabugok, which could have devoured a poisonous crab before this was caught.
Teresita Lazarte, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regional laboratory chief, said the suspicion of Victoria is possible or it could be that the waters off Mambaling are already polluted.
Lazarte, howeer, assured the public there is no red tide in this area that could have caused the tabugok to be poisonous.
Lazarte said samples from the cooked Tabugok should be taken first and examined to determine the source of the food poisoning. #
by Mars W. Mosqueda
Frontpage of Tempo newspaper
Saturday, May 28, 2005 issue
