Mabini, Bohol

Map of Bohol showing the location of Mabini

Mabini is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 28,788 people.

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History

Mabini is located in the eastern part of the province. It was established in 1904 out of the barrios of Abaca, Banlas, Bulawan, Lungsodaan, Minol, Poblacion 1 and 2 and Tambo which then belonged to Candijay; Cabulao and San Jose which then belonged to Ubay and Batuanan which a that time was a barrio of Mabini. The first settlers of Sitio Libas came from Duero, Loboc, Guindulmlan, Jagna and Sevilla. The barrios were organized into a new town through the initiative of its parish priest, Fr. Jimenez and municipal president Canuto Bernales.(the provincial government)

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Food poisoning

Bohol's worst tragedy was the Mabini Food Poisoning on March 8, 2005. It caught the attention of the world when schoolchildren died of eating cassava.

Thirty elementary school children died and another 105 were hospitalized after eating a native delicacy made from cassava — a root that could be poisonous if not prepared correctly — at the San Jose Elementary School in Mabini, Bohol.

Reports said the children, mostly second and third-grade pupils, started complaining of stomach pains and dizziness right after eating the cassava cake, known locally as maruya, during the morning recess.

At 12 noon, teachers started to send victims to hospitals for treatment. Unfortunately, many of them failed to make it,according to Philip Puderanan, public information officer of the Bohol Municipal Hall.

Sr. Supt. Sancho Bernales, chief of the Bohol police, said the children were taken to different hospitals in the province for medical treatment. Some of the children were brought as far as the provincial capital of Tagbilaran City, some 100 kms. from Mabini.

Military trucks reportedly helped bring the children to hospitals, the nearest of which was 20 to 30 kms. away in Ubay town.

Of the 19 children taken to the Lita Cotamora Clinic in Ubay, 14 died and five were transferred to the nearby government-owned Don Emilio del Valle Hospital, where 20 other victims were confined. There were also two deaths reported at the Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran.

Doctors who attended to the victims said food poisoning was the cause of death.

Francisca Doliente told the Associated Press that her 9-year-old niece Arve Tamor was given some of the deep-fried caramelized cassava by a classmate who bought it from a regular vendor outside the San Jose school.

At least two women, reports said, were responsible for selling the cassava cakes to the San Jose school children. One was identified as Aning Luyong, 60, who reportedly regularly sold snacks at the school. Luyong was said to have eaten the rest of the cassava cakes after the children fell ill and is now also in critical condition.

Another vendor, a 68-year-old woman, is reportedly now under the custody of Mabini town Mayor Stephen Rances.

The roots of the cassava plant, a major crop in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, are rich in protein, minerals and vitamins A, B, C. It is poisonous, however, without proper preparation.

In many impoverished Philippine towns, like Mabini, it is a substitute for rice, the staple food.

When eaten raw, the human digestion system will convert part of the cassava into cyanide. Even two cassava roots contain a fatal dose.

The most popular among school children is deep fried cassava coated with sugar.

Bohol Vice Gov. Julius Cesar Herrera said provincial health authorities in Tagbilaran will conduct further investigation to determine the victims’ exact cause of death.

The Department of Health (DOH) has also sent medical experts to Mabini to investigate the incident. Tapped to conduct the probe were disease experts from the DOH’s Regional Service Unit in Bohol.

“The hospitals have enough manpower and supply to handle this. We are coordinating with our people in the field,” said Dr. Yolando Oliveros, head executive assistant of Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit.

Grieving parents bury poisoned children

Grieving parents have began the grim task of collecting their dead children poisoned in a freak tragedy in Mabini, Bohol.

“We are preparing to bury the children,” said Philip Fuderanan, a spokesman for the mayor of the

Wrapped with white cloth, the stiff dead bodies of children were loaded on a government-owned trucks.

“It was just awful to see the remains of the children, and their parents who are crying and helpless,” Fuderanan said.

Some of the the dead children were transported back to Mabini and were met by residents of the small town still trying to understand what had happened.

State of calamity declared in Mabini

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has placed the entire town of Mabini in Bohol under a state of calamity following the deaths of 30 children who were poisoned after eating cassava cakes.

The President also ordered the release of five percent of funds from her calamity fund or P1.5 million to the local government of Mabini for procurement of medicine and other necessities.

The fund, according to Arroyo, will also be used to help the victims' family for burial expenses.

The President also ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Health (DOH) to investigate the food poisoning.

• The graveyard of the schoolkids who died of food poisoning in March 2005.
  The graveyard of the schoolkids who died of food poisoning in March 2005.
• San Jose Elementary School, Mabini, Bohol
  San Jose Elementary School, Mabini, Bohol
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  The bags and some things of the victims in one of the classrooms of San Jose Elementary School, Mabini, Bohol, were left when the school teachers and pupils panicked when the incident happened.

Barangays

Mabini is politically subdivided into 22 barangays.

Abaca Abad Santos Aguipo Concepcion (Banlas)1 Baybayon Bulawan Cabidian Cawayanan Del Mar Lungsoda-an Marcelo

Minol Paraiso Poblacion I Poblacion II San Isidro San Jose San Rafael San Roque (Cabulao) Tambo Tangkigan Valaga

References

• Mabini

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• Municipality of Mabini