Pastil downs 15 in Sultan Kudarat

Fifteen people, incluidng 13 students, were hospitalized after eating a local dish in Sultan Kudarat, a television report said Thursday.

A report on GMA News' Unang Balita said the victims vomited, had diarrhea and experienced abdominal pains after consuming pastil, a dish made up of rice and chicken adobo flakes wrapped in banana leaf.   

Most of the victims were students from the Sultan Kudarat State University. The victims were taken to the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital for treatment. 

A police report said the incident occurred 3 p.m., Wednesday.

According to the victims, the pastil they bought from a store in fron had an awful taste. The police report, meanwhile, said the pastil was bought from another student.  
 

Doctors said the victims showed symptoms of food poisoning although further tests were being conducted to determine if the local dish indeed caused the incident.

The Sultan Kudarat incident is the latest of similar food poisoning incidents to hit Philppine provinces in a week's time.

Last week, nearly 2,000 people in the Caraga Region were hospitalized after eating durian and mangosteen candies.

On Wednesday, seven people in Iloilo, most of them children, were hospitalized after eating bread suspected to be contaminated. — RSJ, GMA News