ILAGAN, Isabela, Philippines – For his zeal to protect his constituents from dengue, a barangay councilman died yesterday of leptospirosis he had contracted when he cleaned a sewer unprotected.
The victim, Federico Sison Sr., councilman of Barangay Tres, San Mateo town, wore no pair of boots or gloves when he joined the cleanup last week, according to barangay chairman Cesar Villafuerte.
Doctors at a private hospital in Cauayan City diagnosed Sison with leptospirosis, a deadly viral disease caused by rodent’s urine.
Villafuerte said he noticed Sison had a wound on his feet when he stepped into the sewer to remove garbage that had piled up in the canal.
The councilman fell ill with high fever and complained of body pains the next day, Villafuerte said.