DILG chief wants total ban on firecrackers
Firecrackers should be banned in all cities and municipalities across the nation, according to the chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos acknowledged that while there were some local governments, which have passed ordinances imposing a total ban on firecrackers and designating an area for fireworks display, this was still not enough.
“I appeal to all [local governments] to follow what Davao City and Quezon City did, of implementing a firecracker ban. We have seen how they injured a number of our kababayans, especially kids,” Abalos said.
“We can celebrate New Year revelries orderly. We should have a fireworks display in the local governments in one area to avoid accidents,” he added.
A spectator to a fireworks display was, however, among at least 16 people already injured by fireworks or firecrackers just a week before the New Year.
The onlooker sustained an eye injury while at the designated audience area during the fireworks display, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
New injuries
“Fireworks used both at or near the home and even at designated areas can still harm even those not lighting them,” the DOH said in its daily bulletin on Monday.
“It is better for professionals at community fireworks displays to do the show, with watchers far away at a safe distance,” it added.The 16 new fireworks injuries ranged in age from six to 35 years old, all male except one.
Seven of them used firecrackers that are legally allowed.
The DOH has now recorded at least 28 cases of fireworks injuries since it started its annual monitor on Dec. 21.
‘Ban to kill industry’
Ten of the 28 people injured were passive—either bystanders or spectators. Many of those injured were minors.
Instead of a total ban on firecrackers, manufacturers and dealers of pyrotechnics said improvement in the regulation and monitoring of illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnics should be prioritized.
Lea Alapide, president of Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers Dealers Association Inc., said they fully support the government’s move to lessen the injuries caused by illegal firecrackers.
“We understand the aim of the government, which is safety for everybody. We also do not want people to get injured because of our products,” she said in a radio interview.
But she stressed that firecrackers from manufacturers without licenses were the cause of injuries.
Alapide warned that a total ban on firecrackers would kill the industry.
“We just want to make a living. It will be unfortunate if the skills on making firecrackers and pyrotechnics that we inherited from our foreparents will just be gone. This proposal should be studied thoroughly,” she said.
Firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices are regulated under a 1992 law, Republic Act No. 7183.
Under the law, any person caught manufacturing, selling, distributing or using illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices will face a fine of up to P30,000, imprisonment of six months to one year, as well as cancellation of license and business permit and confiscation of inventory stocks. INQ
