Fort Ilocandia water potable, GM assures public

Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino (FIRC) assured its guests and the public yesterday that its water is potable.

"We test our water regularly," FIRC general manager Christopher Park said in a letter to The STAR.

Park was reacting to an article which came out in yesterday’s issue of The STAR stating that groundwater resources of tourism centers and households, including FIRC, in Ilocos Norte are in danger of being contaminated.

The article, written by Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) information officer Reynaldo Andres, was based on tests conducted by MMSU researcher Floramante Pator.

The article said water samples from the hotel’s main source of drinking water contained 900 most probable number (mpn) of coliform organisms per 100 ml.

Reacting strongly, Park said, "This is a complete and utter fabrication." He revealed that the subject was first printed in the Ilocos Times, a weekly publication, during the first week of August.

"However, after verification, the Ilocos Times subsequently made two voluntary retractions," he said.

"Both retractions stated that the supposed tests were conducted in 1998 without any proof that water samples were taken from Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino," he added.

In an editorial, the Ilocos Times expressed regrets at "having committed an oversight on the writer’s inadvertent omission of the dates when the water tests were conducted, which, as a result, made the readers believe that the analyses were only recently done."

The paper clarified that the tests were conducted on water samples taken in February 1998 and September 1999 and did not in any way reflect the water conditions of the hotel at present.

However, the Ilocos Times said it is not disowning the findings considering that aside from passing two review bodies, they were also featured during the recent symposium of the 16-agency Ilocos Agriculture Resources Research and Development Consortium.

In its editorial, the Ilocos Times stated that it was taking the words of the MMSU information officer "as we equally take the words and assurance of Mr. Park that the hotel’s drinking water is as safe as the bottled water produced by a popular water refilling station."

The STAR is also taking Park’s word that the water of FIRC is safe for drinking.

The MMSU, the source of the story, regularly sends articles on various subjects to The STAR.