Deretsahan
Dealing with food poisoning incidents
By Bebot Villar
LAST week, 19 San Carlos City residents were hospitalized after eating red salted eggs sold in the city. Kaya simula noong Martes, bawal na muna ang magbenta ng itlog na maalat sa San Carlos City until such time that tests have shown the cause of the food poisoning and where these were sourced.
Curiously, late ang decision ng City Health Office ng San Carlos na i-ban ang pagbebenta ng salted eggs. The first victims ay nai-report noong October 21. Ang sumunod naman ay noong October 29 na, after more than a week then after that ay araw-araw nang may dinadala sa provincial hospital hanggang noong Lunes!
If only the City Health Office had acted noong October 21 pa, hindi na sana nadagdagan pa ang tatlong mag-aamang unang nabiktima ng food poisoning. Ang problema kasi sa atin minsan ay saka lang tayo gagalaw kung marami na ang naperwisyo.
Last week’s incident was the second salted egg poisoning we had this year. Last June, more than 70 persons fell victims, kasama na ang sampung mga kababayan ko sa Sto. Tomas, na bumili ng itlog na maalat mula sa isang kalapit na bayan!
How and why are these food products able to get past sanitary inspectors at local health officials? Ang sagot sa atin ng provincial health office: Mga backyard industries daw kasi ang mga ito. And as such, they are not required to secure business and sanitation permits. Pero, ilan pang mga tao ang maaaring mapahamak sa hinaharap kung hindi babantayan ang mga backyard food industries na ito? We are dealing with people’s lives!
So why not start requiring them to apply for business permits? It’s time na para magkaroon ng registration system for backyard food businesses even sa barangay level lamang. Lahat ng mga gumagawa ng turon, banana cue, carinderia, etc. ay dapat registered in the barangays at sanayin sila sa food handling and preparation para masigurong ligtas ang kanilang mga paninda.
Panahon na rin para i-review ng town and city health offices ang kanilang protocol on how to deal with food poisoning cases. A protocol that will ensure that people’s health would be protected without hurting the backyard food industry at the same time.
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If Pangasinan farmers are happy these days, it’s because the year 2014 has been a good year except for the rains that typhoons Luis and Mario dumped last June that had submerged some towns of Pangasinan.
Pero maliban sa naging maganda ang panahon, the use of high quality palay seeds also helped. Kokonti lang kasi noong mga nakaraang taon ang gumagamit nito dahil medyo may kamahalan ang presyo nito. The program of the provincial government and other agriculture stakeholders enabled the distribution of more certified palay seeds to more farmers. Umaabot na ngayon sa halos 70 percent ng mga pananim na palay ay certified seeds ang ginamit.
Data from the provincial government showed that this year, Pangasinan had a 3.9 percent increase in its palay harvest compared to last year’s. In 2013, the province had a total harvest of 1,065,035 metric tons, which is 41,556 metric tons lower than the 1,106,592 metric tons of palay harvested this year.
Hanggang ngayon ay pangatlo pa rin ang Pangasinan sa mga lalawigan sa bansa na may pinakamataas na rice production. Sa ngayon kasi, ang lalawigan ay mayroong 167,389 hectares na irrigated area at 80,146.28 hectares naman na mga sakahang umaasa sa ulan.
If we can only increase and improve our irrigated areas, tiyak tataas ang rice production ng ating lalawigan dahil makakapag-second crop na ang mga magsasaka. Irrigation in the province is limited in spite of irrigation water sourced from San Roque Dam.
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Bakit kaya hanggang ngayon ay mayroon pa ring ilang mga alagad ng batas na involved sa illegal drugs business?
I ask this because last week isang PO1 — isang bagong-bagong pasok na pulis – was caught in Quezon City habang nagtutulak ng shabu.
Hindi madali ang maging pulis. Katakot-takot na training at hirap ang pinagdadaanan ng mga gustong maging pulis. Kaya naman nagtataka tayo kung bakit sa konting halaga lamang ay sinira ng PO1 na ito ang kanyang career sa pamamagitan ng pagbebenta ng shabu.
Well, they probobaly think that since they are already policemen, they are already above the law. May mga ilang tao pa ring ganyan ang mindset, lalo na’t nasa kapangyarihan sila. Pero kung ikaw ay isang law enforcer, dapat alam mo ang batas. Basic iyan.
Sa mga may planong mag-pulis diyan, sana pag-isipan niyong mabuti. Kung magpupulis kayo para lang gumagawa ng katarantaduhan later, kalimutan niyo na ang ambisyon niyo dahil tiyak, the long arm of the law will eventually catch you!
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