By AARON RECUENCO
At least eight people died while more or less 100 others were hospitalized, three of them are in critical condition, after drinking lambanog (coconut wine) in Laguna and Quezon, police said on Monday.
It was in a birthday celebration in Rizal town of Laguna where there was the biggest casualty 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; and, Elmer Dorado.
The seventh fatality, as reported by Rizal Municipal Health Office was Luis Urriquia who reportedly died at the Philippine General Hospital.
Matta said 34-year old Jason Navarroza is in critical condition and is confined at the San Pablo District Hospital.
Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson of the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) 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 in a phone interview.
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.
Matta, for his part, five more fatalities were confirmed as the police took over the investigation to determine the cause, with reports that 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.
IN QUEZON TOO
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 on 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.
Over the years, there were reported fatalities as a result of an alleged toxic chemicals in some coconut wine.
In December last year alone, a total of 21 deaths were reported in Capas town of Tarlac; in Antipolo City; in Quezon City; and in Sta. Rosa City, Calauan, and Calamba in Laguna.
The FDA earlier warned of drinking lambanog, especially those which are not registered in the agency.
In the two recent cases in Rizal town in Laguna and Candelaria town of Quezon, the lambanog consumed by the victims have no brand name or label.
