BAGUIO CITY – Firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries in the different parts of the Cordillera continue to increase after the New year revelry amidst the efforts of concerned government agencies and local governments to achieve zero casualty in the annual celebration.
Based on the data obtained from the Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR), the number of Firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries in the region reached 46 as of 6 am of January 3, 2025 or two days after the New year revelry.
Geeny Anne Austria, DOH-Car Nurse 5 and head of the agency’s communication management unit, said that 45 of the recorded injuries are firecracker or pyrotechnic-related while one is caused by stray bullets.
She claimed that this year’s firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries is around 12 percent more than the 41 combined injuries that were recorded during the same period last year.
Of the 41 firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries last year, 40 cases were considered as firecracker-related injuries while there was a lone stray bullet injury that was documented by the concerned authorities.
However, the said number is expected to increase until the end of the reckoning period which is usually from December 21 to January 6 as there might be belated reports of incidents that have been documented by the various health offices regionwide.
Abra recorded the highest number of firecracker-related injuries with 10 followed by Baguio and Kalinga with 9 injuries each, Benguet with 8 injuries, Apayao and Mountain province – 4 injuries each and Ifugao – 1 injury.
The age range of cases is from 4 to 84 years old with a median of 17 years.
The DOH-CAR disclosed that majority of the recorded injuries are males with 34 cases while 11 cases were females.
Further, 11 individuals sustained eye injuries, 30 had blasts or burn injuries without amputation, 3 cases had blasts with burn injuries with amputation and one case with multiple injuries.
On the other hand, a 16-year old female from Kalinga was the only reported incident of stray bullet injury as a result of the indiscriminate firing of a firearm by a still unidentified trigger happy individual although the case is subject to further investigation by the concerned law enforcers.
The DOH will await the end of the reckoning period on January 6, 2025 before coming out with its final report on the firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries in the region to ascertain whether or not there was an increase in cases considering the aftermath of the New year revelry where there are so many unexploded firecrackers that might explode and inflict injuries to innocent individuals.
The government conducts the annual Oplan Iwas Paputok from December 21 to January 6 to inform and educate the people not to use firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials in welcoming the new year but instead use alternative means of creating noise to drive away the evil spirits and ensure luck for the coming year. By Dexter A. See
