DOUBLE WHAMMY. Already smarting from the devastating effects of storms ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’, displaced residents at an evacuation center in San Pedro, Laguna, suffered another blow when they were downed by free meals served during a church meeting Monday.

SAN PEDRO, Laguna – More than 200 typhoon evacuees, mostly children, were believed to have fallen victim to food poisoning after they ate packed meals given by a religious group in Barangay Landayan, this town early Monday night.

Dr. Jaime Baron, San Pedro Municipal Health Chief Officer, said the victims, who came from several evacuation centers here, suffered dizziness, vomiting and loose bowel movement (LBM) after they ate hardboiled egg, "adobong manok" and rice between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

Authorities suspect that the peeled hard boiled eggs may have been contaminated during their peeling by infected hands.

The 212 victims, who were fetched from the evacuation centers by a truck hired by the Christian Bible Baptist Church (CBBC), were rushed to the Amante Municipal Hospital three hours after eating the said meal.

They were later transferred to J.P. Rizal Hospital in Calamba City, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Ospital ng Muntinlupa, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center and San Lazaro Hospital for further treatment. Mr. Noel Salamatin, Sanitation Officer 2 of San Pedro Municipal Health Office went to the CBBC office Wednesday morning to look into the suspected food poisoning incident.

Salamatin said Pastor Jhune Garapan, one of the head pastors of the CBBC, told him that some 700 of the 1,000 packed meals were distributed to the evacuees who took their supper at about 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

Salamatin said CBBC did not deny that the food came from their office in Landayan but added that it was never their intention to harm any evacuee.

Salamatin inspected where the food packs were prepared and found out that the CBBC premises appeared neat and clean.

"Ang karaniwang pagbabalat ng itlog ay kinakamay. Hindi natin alamkung nakaplastik o gaano kalinis ang mga kamay ng mga naglagay ng pagkain sa pack lunch kung itlog ang pinagmulan ng diperensiya. Pwede rin ang init ng panahon o ang pagka-kulob ng pagkain sa lunch pack," Baron explained.

One of the victims, Mary Jane Catalan, 32, said she ate only the egg at about 7 p.m. but she became dizzy and started vomiting three hours later. But her five children who also ate the same meal did not suffer the same fate.

The victims were displaced from the villages of Landayan, Cuyab, and San Roque following the onslaught of tropical storm "Ondoy” more than three weeks ago. No fatality from those poisoned has been reported as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Baron said it will take two to three days to know the results of laboratory examinations on food samples sent to the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.