BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored that the local government is firm in imposing a total ban on the sale, distribution and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials in the city during the Yuletide revelry to sustain the continuous decline of the number of firecracker-related injuries and for the realization of zero casualties in the future.
The local chief executive claimed it is high time for the national law to be amended to prohibit the manufacture of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials and impose a total ban on the sale and distribution of the hazardous materials to lessen the firecracker related injuries and allow people to embrace alternative ways of celebrating the Yuletide season.
“We must already learn from the previous experiences of those who were victims of the explosion of firecrackers. It is high time for our people to be serious in working out the use of alternative ways of celebrating the Yuletide season so that the parts of our bodies will still be intact with the coming of a new year,” Domogan stressed.
He also suggested the members of the local legislative body start working out the enactment of an ordinance that will define the stand of the local government on the sale and distribution of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials to prevent the safety and security of the revellers and to allow gains in the efforts of the city and concerned stakeholders to preserve and protect the state of the environment. Smoke coming from the explosion of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials contribute to the pollutants in the city’s air.
From the 11 firecracker-related injuries the City Health Services Office recorded during the reckoning period from December 21, 2015 to January 5, 2016, Dr. Donabel Tubera, head of the CHSO Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, said the number of firecracker-related cases dropped to only 5 during the period December 21, 2016 to January 5, 2017.
However, Tubera claimed that what is alarming is that those affected are in a younger age bracket, hence the need for consolidated efforts among the parents of the children to guarantee the protection of their kids from the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials during the Yuletide revelry.
According to Mayor Domogan, there are attempts by the long-time firecracker and pyrotechnic vendors to try to lobby for them to be allowed to sell pyrotechnic materials for a few days in the city but he explained that the vendors know his position on the matter and that he does not want the gains of the total ban to be compromised by again allowing them to sell.
He claimed the total ban must be strengthened by a local ordinance so the long overdue dream of the local government for zero casualties from the firecrackers and pyrotechnic material use will be realized, for the benefit of the preservation and protection of the children.
The local government started implementing a total ban on the sale and distribution of firecrackers four years ago following a sudden surge in the number of firecracker related injuries previously recorded in the city.
By Dexter A. See
