Malacañang believes that one year is enough time for the firecracker manufacturers to prepare for next year’s ban on fireworks and look for new jobs, an official said Tuesday.
Presidential spokesman Roque made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his desire to have firecrackers banned next year, noting that public health and safety must be given priority.
He told reporters the President understands their plight, which was why he was giving them a one-year ultimatum to get ready by looking for new sources of income.
“He is giving these workers one more year. In a span of one year, we expect affected workers to have looked for alternative livelihoods,” Roque said.
He said Duterte was bent on a total ban on firecrackers since his hometown, Davao City, had a standing ordinance on the total ban of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.
“The President wants something in comparison to an absolute ban on firecrackers in Davao. So that’s what’s on the President’s mind,” Roque said.
He said Metro Manila mayors as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government had also agreed to Duterte’s plan to ban fireworks completely.
He says the DILG will instead promote centralized fireworks displays to cut down on death and injuries to the people setting off firecrackers.
In a taped speech late Monday night, Duterte said he sympathized with firecracker manufacturers, but noted that it was the government’s duty to protect people’s health and safety.
“I really understand you. I might even sympathize with you. Loss of earnings and you are driven out of business. But the problem is the higher duty of government to protect public interest, public health,” he said.
Duterte said it was the government’s job to intervene to prevent injuries and the death rates from rising.
“With every product that is sold to the public, the government must have an intervention or to interdict something which is really not good. It’s going to be tough to lose your limb,” he said.
He also ordered the DILG to control the sale and use of explosives in mining operations to prevent them from being used by communist rebels in attacks against government forces.
“It must be cleared by the police and supervised strictly. And then when you go to the area, go to the commanding officer of the military there and let him know that you have bought these explosives so that when you use them, they can be monitored,” Duterte said.
