AS THE schools got ready for the Christmas close-down beginning next week, a health and environmental watch group reached out to young students on Wednesday to warn them against the hazards of lighting firecrackers during the holidays.
The EcoWaste Coalition organized a well-attended awareness-raising drive to encourage the students of the Jacinto Zamora Elementary School in Pandacan, Manila, to spurn firecrackers and opt for alternative noisemakers to greet the New Year.
Joining the event that gathered more than 1,000 students from Kindergarten to Grade VI were 2016 Miss Philippines Earth-Ecotourism Melanie Mader, Department of Health spokesman Eric Tayag and representatives from national and local governmental authorities.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department has lifted the Work Stoppage Order on another 18 establishments engaged in the manufacture and sale of pyrotechnics and firecrackers in Bulacan after those complied with general labor and occupational safety and health standards.
The department earlier allowed 48 firms to resume work after finding them compliant with general labor and occupational safety and health standards, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.
But the Bureau of Customs on Wednesday banned the importation of “finished” firecrackers, fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices unless authorized by the Philippine National Police-firearms and Explosives Office.
The illegal importation of substandard firecrackers has been blamed for the high incidence of injuries during the New Year’s Eve celebration.
JZES Principal Angelina Mojica welcomed the visitors to the school, which was adjudged Regional Winner and National Finalist under the Elementary School Category of the 2015 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools.
“Firecrackers are not toys for young children to play with,” said Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition who added that “firecrackers are dangerous, deadly and dirty” and “a total waste of money for a few minutes of toxic revelry.”
“To stop the tragic injuries and deaths, the destructive fires, the hazardous pollution and the acoustic torture of animals due to firecrackers, we appeal to the general public to welcome 2017 in a safe and eco-friendly way without firecrackers,” she said.
“I join the [Health Department] and the EcoWaste Coalition in requesting the public, particularly the parents and their kids, not to light firecrackers anymore and to celebrate the beginning of a New Year with the health of their family members and neighbors and the well-being of Mother Earth in mind,” Mader said. With Vito Barcelo