At least 100 individuals were victimized by suspected food poisoning after they ate “ginataan” or dessert soup provided by the Philippine Army to the attendees of the 35^th Joint Boys Scout and Girls Scout of the Philippines Institutional Camp in Indanan, Sulu, authorities confirmed on Monday, Feb. 27.

Seventy-eight students and 22 adults experienced nausea, stomach ache, and some even fainted after consuming “dinignit,” a Visayan dessert soup, which were sponsored by the members of the 8^th Field Artillery Battalion, Army Artillery Regiment, said Col. Xerxes Trinidad, spokesperson of the Philippine Army, and Julkipli Ahijon Jr., head of Sulu provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO).

Accordingly, the incident occurred around 3 p.m. on Feb. 25 just as the scouts were camping at Camp Bud Datu in Brgy. Tagbak.

Among the patients were scouts aged nine to 13 years old, as well as a soldier with a rank of private from the 8FAB, and Girl Scouts of the Philippines Executive Helen Hajan.

“Itong mga tao, mga mostly kabataan na Girl Scout at Boy Scout, nagcamping sila tapos medyo after ng last day, may nagsponsor na snacks. Allegedly after kumain, doon na nahilo at nagsuka sa parang ginataan na meryenda (These people, mostly youth Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, they had a camping and towards the end of it, they were sponsored with snacks. After they ate the dessert soup, that’s when they allegedly started experiencing dizziness and vomiting),” Ahijon said in a radio interview over dzBB.

The patients were brought to Sanitarium Hospital, Integrated Provincial Health Office and Camp Bautista Station Hospital for proper medical attention.

“The other day, may tatlong critical dahil bumaba ang potassium level according to the doctors. Iyon ang closely monitored pero yesterday, lahat sila stable na (The other day, there were three critical patients because their potassium level decreased according to the doctors. That’s who we're closely monitoring but yesterday, all of them were already stable),” Ahijon added.

Currently, 88 patients have already been discharged while 12 students were still admitted at the Sanitarium Hospital.

“The troops of the 1103^rd Infantry Brigade and 8FAB have been constantly monitoring the status of the civilians in the said hospitals and assisted in catering their hospital needs,” Trinidad said.

He said the remaining patients were expected to be discharged “within the day.”

Meanwhile, food samples were sent to the Integrated Provincial Health Office for an initial examination. The samples were then referred to Zamboanga City for further tests.

“The Philippine Army will continue its effort to determine the possible cause of the incident while ensuring to cater to the needs of the patients affected,” Trinidad said.