Intentionally laced?

APERCEPTIVE mind will stand firm on its suspicion that the current mass poisoning incidents in four regions in a matter of seven days are not just caused by handling and distribution carelessness.

The casualties: Two thousand four hundred cases, two deaths, and the rest rushed to hospitals for vomiting, diarrhea, and malaise.

The mass poisoning started July 10 in Agusan del Sur. This was followed in Davao City, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Kidapawan, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat City, and Iloilo City. All together more than 2,300 students were hospitalized.

All the victims, except those in Iloilo and Sultan Kudarat, told local health officials what they consumed were durian and mangosteen candies. Investigators said the candies were packed in Davao City.

The latest in Quezon City, where 13 students of Juan Sumulong High School were rushed to Quirino Memorial Medical Center Thursday, July 16. Five of the victims were confined in the ICU. The victims said they ate macapuno candy from Laguna sold to them by a boy who appeared to have donned a fake school uniform and was able to enter the campus.

Local health officials in Davao found out that the factory of the candies in the city did not have proper health and sanitation inspection permits. They closed down the place, media reports said.

What the officials did not report was whether the candies carried expiry dates in their wrappers.

The students in Iloilo ate ube cake, while those in Sultan Kudarat feasted on pastil, a local version of ricetopping. Food poisoning is the culprit there.

Staphylococcus bacteria was said to have been discovered by Caraga Region health officials in the sample products.

But over and above all these findings is the mysterious successive occurrence of these disasters. As I said earlier, they happened within a span of seven days in four different regions -- far away from one another -- of the country. So speculation of epidemic is ruled out here.

Such incidents coming in succession certainly invites suspicion. Was it being coordinated? Was it a planned destabilization move? The situation is becoming to be a police matter. Common sense dictates that the PNP should be asked to join in the probe team.

Who in his right mind can afford to do it on schoolchildren? Even a deranged person could not do it alone. The enemies of the state? Could be. They have the manpower and facilities. And most likely the expertise of some associates from overseas.

I am reminded of almost similar scenarios several years ago happening in the United States and in Europe in the 1970s.

Packs of a top-selling brand of analgesic in over-the-counter sections of American supermarkets and drugstores were laced with a tasteless kind of chemical.

Initially, they were bought by a madman who did the lacing in his makeshift laboratory at his home. After finishing his devilish scheme, he would secretly bring back the packs to retail establishments placing them in array with other similar products.

The health of hundreds of thousands of Americans was put in danger.

Careful sleuthing by federal agents led to the arrest of the offender. But not before destroying the good name of the brand, the utility of the product, and the reputation of its manufacturer.

It also happened in the turbulent years in the Middle East in the mid1970s. Israel has one marketable orange fruit that is enjoyed in Europe and in the States.

Israel intelligence agents discovered a plan by its enemies to inject poison into the fruit while stored in warehouses. Tel Aviv officials foiled the heinous plot. Today the product is even enjoyed by consumers in the Philippines.