BAGUIO CITY – With the New Year revelry fast approaching, health authorities disclosed there were three youngsters from the different parts of the Cordillera who were injured after they reportedly tried exploding firecrackers to celebrate Christmas.
The injured individuals were an 8-year female from Ifugao,a 10-year old boy from Baguio City and an 11-year old boy from Mountain Province.
Based on initial reports from the ground, the 8-year old female from Ifugao sustained multiple hand and facial injuries after the Kwitis she was about to explode burst in her midst.
On the other hand, the 10-year old boy from Baguio City and the 11-year old boy from Mountain Province suffered similar hand injuries after exploding the banned picolo to celebrate Christmas.
Dra. Amelita Pangilinan, assistant regional director of the Cordillera office of the Center for Health Development, warned revellers to use other alternative modes of creating noise to welcome the new year instead of exploding firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials to make sure that their bodies are still complete in 2015.
She said people have learned their lessons in the past, thus, they must teach their children the safest ways of celebrating the coming of a new year so that there will be a paradigm shift in the conduct of new year revelries in the future.
The health department, together with local governments nationwide, are embarking on the strict implementation of the Oplan Iwas Paputok to convince people to abandon the traditional way of celebrating the new year through spectacular exploding of firecrackers and fireworks displays and embrace new ways of creating noise for the new year.
Health workers are on alert up to the first four days of next year in order to monitor firecracker-related incidents that may happen during the celebration of the new year considering that there are people who still insist on exploding firecrackers to welcome the new year amidst threats to their safety.
By Dexter A. See
