CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Gov. Lilia Pineda wants to ensure the protection of residents at flood-stricken Pampanga towns, asking municipal health officers (MHO) to exhaust all means to prevent a diarrhea outbreak.
Pineda called an emergency meeting with local MHO staff on Tuesday as 20 children from Masantol were reportedly rushed to hospitals on Saturday in Pampanga and Bulacan for severe diarrhea after drinking water from deep-well pumps, which have been submerged in floodwaters since last month.
The meeting was also attended by Provincial Administrator Andres Pangilinan Jr. and Board Member Monina Laus, chairman of the committee on heath.
Dr. Abelardo Algarne, Masantol’s MHO, told Pineda that “only eight cases of people taken to hospitals for diarrhea had happened. And the cases are simple diarrhea. No outbreak seen.” The Masantol MHO, in a report to Pineda, cited 83 cases of diarrhea recorded Sept. 16-Oct. 17.
Masantol and seven other towns in Pampanga’s Fourth District had been flooded for weeks shortly after Typhoon Pedring hit the province on Sept. 27.
Pineda asked Pangilinan to regularly check the water at deep wells in at least eight Masantol barangays: Nigui, Alauli, Sagrada Familia, Bagang, Balibago, Baco, Iscundo and Sapang Kawayan.
Pineda was disappointed when informed by Algarne that the contamination could have caused by the “wrong placing water pipes of deep wells near the river.”
“You (Algarne) already knew that. How come it’s only now that you are reporting that to me?,” said Pineda to Algarne. The Masantol MHO said that residents of affected villages should start drinking water supplied by the local water district.
A team from the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and the Maynilad Water central office had found coliform and E.Coli bacteria in water from deep wells in Masantol on Saturday afternoon. The severe diarrhea cases were discovered by the PMA as they rushed the victims to hospitals.
The coliform bacteria in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms or pathogens could be in the water system. Most pathogens that contaminate water supplies usually come from the feces of humans or animals.
Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson had lent his mobile purified water facility to Pampanga, providing potable water to flood victims.
