BONTOC, Mountain Province – The inherent practice of the people to sustain the preservation of the Igorot culture by playing gongs during gatherings served as one of the reasons why the province recorded zero firecracker and fireworks-related injuries during the celebration of the New Year revelry.
Police Col. Sibly Dawiguey, Provincial Director of the Mountain Province Police Office, said that residents, both young and old, converged in the different designated community centers to interact with each other by playing the gongs to welcome the coming of 2024.
However, he admitted that there were some reported incidents in the different municipalities where there were isolated cases of unidentified individuals who still used firecrackers and fireworks to celebrate the New Year revelry.
Mountain Province is one of the provinces in the Cordillera where all the municipalities have existing ordinances prohibiting the sale and use of firecrackers and fireworks.
Dawiguey expressed the gratitude of the province’s police force to the people for their utmost cooperation in the implementation of the government’s Oplan Iwas Paputok that paved the way for the achievement of the zero firecracker and fireworks-related incident from the reckoning period December 21, 2023 to January 6, 2024.
According to him, the overall discipline displayed by the people in not using firecrackers and fireworks to celebrate the coming of the new year prevailed that is why there is a need for the constituents to sustain such feat in the coming years.
From December 21, 2022 to January 6, 2023, Mountain Province registered two firecracker and fireworks-related injuries that served as a challenge to local officials and the police force to intensify their information and education campaign for people to refrain from using firecrackers and fireworks during the New Year revelry.
The Mountain Province police official pointed out that there is a need for the community to sustain this best practice in celebrating the coming of a new year and to pass this on to the youth so that the province can maintain the zero firecracker and fireworks-related injuries.
On his part, Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. commended the people for their utmost cooperation to the strict implementation of the ban on the use of firecrackers and fireworks during the celebration of the coming of the new year that contributed in the realization of the zero casualty for this year.
He underscored that the people must continue the practice of organizing community gatherings to celebrate the coming of the new year and use this as a venue to impart to the youth the rich culture and traditions of the Igorots so that they can learn the proper way to play the gongs and the execution of the steps in the various dances.
He also congratulated the local police for closely monitoring the entry of illegal firecrackers and fireworks in the province that prevented people from purchasing these. By Dexter A. See
