Inmates ill after eating banana blossoms

COTABATO CITY — More than a hundred inmates at the North Cotabato provincial jail are afflicted with a "mysterious disease" which authorities are still trying to determine to have a basis for treatment.

Catholic radio station dxND reported yesterday that the arms and legs of at least 199 inmates became swollen after they ate banana blossoms cooked in coconut milk five days ago.

The provincial jail’s cook reportedly used the blossoms of Cavendish banana, not cardaba or saba, traditionally cooked into ginataang puso ng saging.

There are vast tracts of Cavendish banana farms in North Cotabato operated by multinational firms, which use pesticides to protect their produce from diseases and harmful insects.