The number of fireworks-related injuries surged by 34 on Sunday, two days before the New Year Day celebration, the Department of Health said.
READ: DOH: Fewer ‘cracker victims ahead of New Year
Data from the DOH Epidemiology Bureau showed there were 12 additional, bringing to 46 the total number of fireworks-related injuries from Dec. 21 to 29 recorded in 61 government hospitals.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the 46 injuries were the same as the number of cases during the same period in 2018.
However, this was 64 percent lower than the five-year average (2014 to 2018) of the 129 cases, he said.
No deaths have been reported so far.
Most of the injuries were due to the use of boga—an improvised cannon made of PVC pipes—as well as luces and piccolo. The rest were caused by kwitis, whistle bomb, and five star.
Duque urged the public to use alternative noisemakers such as horns and kitchen utensils to avoid injuries.
READ: New Year revelry: Be safe, sound; avoid 'crackers, DOH warns
The Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa said the following firecrackers are prohibited: Piccolo, watusi, giant whistle bomb, giant bawang, large Judas belt, super lolo, lolo thunder, atomic bomb, atomic bomb triangular, pillbox, boga, kwiton, goodbye earth, goodbye bading, hello Columbia and goodbye Philippines.
Gamboa also said only 124 firecracker dealers and 24 manufacturers were authorized in Bocaue. He added that they are closely monitoring firecracker-related concerns as New Year’s Day draws nearer.
Pyrotechnic traders in Bocaue were gloomy at the prospect of a total ban on their products—something that President Rodrigo Duterte did in Davao when he was still mayor.
The firecracker business should be regulated and not killed because it provides livelihood and employment, said Celso C. Cruz, president emeritus of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association.
Cruz said it was a tradition to use firecrackers to greet the New Year, and these products shouldn’t be banned.
“Children light and throw firecrackers because they have seen it being done by their father of elders. Hence, as they grow, they continue [the] family tradition,” said Lita Gonzales, 65, a trader of firecrackers in Brgy. Bundukan, Bocaue.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said local executives should regulate the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices in their jurisdictions to make the celebration of New Year and other special occasions safer and more environment-friendly.
Sotto has filed Senate Bill No. 493 proposing to institutionalize Executive Order 28 issued by President Duterte in June 2017 banning the uncontrolled and unregulated use of firecrackers and similar devices.
SBN 493, or the proposed Firecracker Ban Act, prohibits the unsupervised use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices in any place regardless of the occasion.
The measure allows the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices only in designated areas and requires authorization from local government units.
The use of the same will exclusively be done by professionals who have the technical skills and knowledge on the preparation and lighting of firecrackers and similar devices.
Any person caught violating the law will be punished by a fine of not less than P10,000 but not more than P 50,000 or imprisonment from six months to one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.
In filing the bill, the Senate President cited the huge drop in injuries and fatalities during the 2018 New Years’ celebration following the issuance of EO 28.
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