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The Cholera squad |
Filipino historians and anthropologists have long held the
belief that civilizations thrive and survive where water flow forth. Bodies of
water are not considered as barriers for transportation, rather they were
esteemed as super-highways that facilitated the trade, commerce, and transport
of the natives and goods. Indeed, water is life. But it also turned out to be a
curse, a cause of misfortune.
In 1882, Capiz wailed in sorrow. Cholera attacked 31 towns
in the province, wiping out a total of 9,256 lives. For about a quarter of a
century, Capiz had fallen victim many times over to cholera. But the worst was
yet to come.
From 1899-1923, the world was swept by the Sixth Cholera
pandemic. It reached the Philippines in 1902, the cause was rather simple, as shared by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria in her book The Governor General's Kitchen. The story goes that a shipload
of vegetables from Canton, China, a cholera-infested region and where
produce were believed to have been enriched with night-soil, was refused entry
in Manila. The enraged ship captain dumped his goods on Manila Bay. The poor
families of Tondo dived in to rescue the cabbages, not knowing that these
greens were kissed by death’s curse. It took no time until cholera quickly
spread like wildfire in the Philippines, killing more than 200,000 lives. The
most celebrated victim was Apolinario Mabini who perished in 1904. In the
province of Capiz 4,650 people fell victim; 3,016 died.
American authorities reported that on September 8, 1903, a small fishing boat from Estancia, Iloilo, discreetly docked in the port of Libas. Aboard was sick man and the disease quickly spread to every pueblo in the province. A medical inspector was sent from Manila with medicines and disinfectants and a “cholera hospital” was built to address the crisis. More than 670 Capiznons died from the 1903 cholera.
American authorities reported that on September 8, 1903, a small fishing boat from Estancia, Iloilo, discreetly docked in the port of Libas. Aboard was sick man and the disease quickly spread to every pueblo in the province. A medical inspector was sent from Manila with medicines and disinfectants and a “cholera hospital” was built to address the crisis. More than 670 Capiznons died from the 1903 cholera.
A new wave of cholera epidemic hit Panay Island in 1906, the
disease originating in Iloilo on September 1 that year. It reached Capiz, Samar
and the Moro provinces and prevailed until April 1907. One out of every 50
Capiznons died from cholera.
For a while in 1907, Capiz was cholera free but not for
long. In March 1908 cholera made its resurgence and gradually spread until the
towns of Capiz, Dao, Ivisan, Mambusao, Panay, Pilar, Pontevedra, and others
became infected, a total of 673 cases being reported up to the close of the
year with 1 out of every 115 people in the Iloilo, Capiz and Antique suffering
from cholera, doubling the April 1907 figure.
In April 23, 1908, Frank W. Carpenter, Executive Secretary
of the Insular Government, telegrammed Dr. Victor G. Heiser, Director of
Health, who was then in Baguio reporting the condition in Capiz, explaining to
him the necessity of a cholera expert to put the epidemic to a stop. Carpenter
also reported that the municipality of Sapian had already registered 40 cases
and 29 deaths, Ivisan 22 cases and 20 deaths, Capiz 3 cases and 2 deaths.
While the services of the health officer of the province,
Dr. Francisco Xavier, were deemed satisfactory by the government, the need for
a cholera expert was necessary to assist him. The district health officer from
Iloilo, a certain Dr. Araneta, was sent to Capiz. He was given every facility
to suppress the disease, and some 30 vaccinators who were on duty for the
insular bureau of health were pressed into service as cholera inspectors; but
the disease continued to increase. On June 5, the director of health
telegrammed Dr. Xavier asking him why “despite the large number of men and
funds at your disposal better results should be been obtained to date.”
The provincial board authorized the employment of a number
of sanitary inspectors and the Philippine Assembly made an appropriation of P1,500
to be used in exterminating the disease. At the close of the year the epidemic
was apparently under control.
One of the factors that triggered the rapid spread cholera
in the islands was the limited training of Filipino health officers, "
required properly to prepare them for combating epidemics and carrying out
general sanitary work." This was nevertheless addressed with the trainings
they received. Their attitudes towards their work were also observed: they were
deficient in eagerness, “executive ability”, and devotion to duty. Many
appeared to be rather inclined to "interest themselves in politics to the
great detriment of their work."
The country's climate and topographic conditions were also
ascertained. The ignorance of the natives and lack of hygiene were underscored
as others factors. They ate with their fingers, which favored "the rapid
spread of cholera."
Preventive measures were taken. In her book, Fifty Years in Hollywood, Gemma Cruz Araneta (2019) narrated how Dr. Heiser issued a
directive banning contaminated food, including the favorite fares, like bucayo, ginatan, tikoy, calamay, suman de maiz, pinais na gabi
y chumpos, baling, sorbete de buco, gata, palitaw, patis, pilipit, lumpia, pinipig, bico, gulaman, toge, bagoong, and all kinds of fresh vegetables and peeled or cut
fruits. Chinese delicacies like buche,
hopia, toyo, misos, sotangjon, and pancit were blacklisted. Noticeably, many of these food those days were prepared by hand, so contamination would have been very easy.
Filipino scientists also came to the rescue. Dr. Manuel
Guerrero emphasized the importance of drinking only sterilized water and not
eating raw food. In her book, Araneta wrote: “He warned against doing one’s laundry in rivers and streams
with (dead bodies!) and sewage leakages; he indicated that for drinking water,
boiling for at least ten minutes is the simplest and most effective method of
purification.”
It was the curse of cholera that triggered the government to
improve the country’s drinking water. These unsanitary conditions were remedied
by a massive campaign that centered on cleanliness and proper hygiene. Thus, waterways
were cleaned, drains and ditches were constructed. In the pueblo of Capiz, a
water tank was deemed necessary as a source of potable water for the locals. It
was finally built in 1916 at a cost of P5000, money borrowed by the provincial
government from the insular government. When the tank was finished, it supplied
the town with 800,000-1 million liters of water. Around this time also, the
Pasteur Institute had formulated the vaccine that curbed cholera fatalities.
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