Dr. Adolf Aguilar, assistant school’s division superintendent of DepEd Cebu City. CDN File photo | Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) in Cebu City is investigating a report that some delegates participating in the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA) Meet 2024 were served spoiled food.
Dr. Adolf Aguilar, assistant school’s division superintendent of DepEd Cebu City, however, clarified that it was the local government units (LGUs) of participating teams who hired catering services and not the host city.
Aguilar’s response came after a parent of an athlete from Talisay City posted online about the spoiled food that her child received.
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“Ang ako lang ipasabot nga dili obligasyon sa Cebu City nga mopakaon sa mga atleta. Responsibilidad ni sa kada delegasyon,” said Aguilar.
Moreover, Aguilar, who is also the Game Secretariat in the Operations Media Center of CVIRAA 2024, urged the public to check the facts first before making conclusions online.
“Most likely, diba mag-order ta sa mga fast food chain, naa man gyud nay number of hours lang pwede kaonon ang pagkaon. Maybe ang gi-serve nga pagkaon dili pan-os pero dugay siyang nakaon, so ang probability nadaot lang siya kay init kaayo ang panahon,” he said.
In light of this, Aguilar also called on all the medical teams who are in-charge of the CVIRAA 2024 billeting quarters to monitor the food handling and safety preparations to ensure that the athletes are “well catered” to with regards to food.
While other delegations hired catering services, he said that some delegations have taken the initiative to prepare food themselves.
“Food safety is really the priority of the host. We have the medical coordination meeting sa atong mga heads sa delegations para lang to remind them constantly on the importance of food handling,” Aguilar said.
The assistant superintendent added that DepEd had already set up “Learner’s Rights Protection Desk”in every billeting quarters of CVIRAA 2024.
“So, og naay concern sa mishandling sa food, etcetera, puydi na i-report sa parents didto not on social media kay lain-lain na ang comment ba nya ma-affected na ang mga tawo nga dili dapat unta if proper ang way of reporting,” he said.
Adolf added that if they have concerns, the issues must be raised to the operations center.
He said that they already provided contact or hotline numbers in the billeting quarters for the delegates.
“Then ma-receive to sa atong main operation centers sa City Hall, naa didto ang police, Department of Health, and other agencies to act dayon,” Adolf added.
As of May 7, Aguilar said that the Operations Center has not yet received reports about food poisoning in the ongoing CVIRAA 2024, only reports about injured athletes.