Welcome ‘23 safely
At least 18 pyrotechnic-related injuries in last year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations required amputations.
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Daily TribuneAt least 18 pyrotechnic-related injuries in last year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations required amputations.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week urged local government units to set up common areas for fireworks displays even as he warned against the use of firecrackers by individuals to prevent injuries.
"Instead of allowing our people to have their firecrackers, organize a good fireworks display for your constituents," the Chief Executive told reporters, addressing LGUs, on the sidelines of a gift-giving program in Manila.
In 2021, local governments across the land designated common pyrotechnic areas after then — President Rodrigo Duterte allowed LGU-approved displays of fireworks in their localities.
Mr. Duterte's order came as a welcome relief for local pyrotechnic makers who were half-expecting in 2021 a total ban to be imposed after an executive order in 2017 constricted their operations and sales.
Instead of a total ban, the local pyro industry got a most-welcome reprieve as the government allowed the use of fireworks duly certified by the Department of Trade and Industry, a move seen as the Duterte administration's way of trying to lift the shroud of Covid despair over the holidays.
This year, the admonition aired by President Marcos has drawn swift responses from local governments, including from the mayor of Quezon City who issued an executive order imposing a total ban on the sale and use of firecrackers throughout the city.
Under the EO, the Quezon Memorial Circle will serve as a staging area for LGU-approved common fireworks displays. Likewise, malls and similar private establishments that plan to use fireworks must get a permit from the LGU's public safety bureau, it said.
The ban on the use of firecrackers must, however, be enforced more strictly as many young Filipinos are now being seen on the streets setting them off at the risk of mangled hands. The police should be on their toes to stop these few "mavericks" lest they embolden more people to follow suit.
As it is, the DTI has already released a list of approved fireworks that are all locally made, but those being popped even by young boys on Metro Manila roadsides are not included in the approved list.
While health authorities have reported just an uptick in pyrotechnic injuries during the 2021 New Year's Eve revelries, 128 compared to 122 in 2020, we have to be reminded that the country would be welcoming 2023 amid the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
New Year's Eve celebrations this Saturday extending into day one of 2023 can be expected to serve as a coming-out party of sorts for Filipinos constrained and restrained by Covid-19.
Included in the marching order for the police should be reining in the celebrations that in the past had led to violent and even fatal fights.
The PNP must still be on guard against the indiscriminate firing of guns that may rear its ugly head anew this time, even if there was only one case of a stray bullet wounding someone last year.
Probably the best warning that may be aired regarding the unauthorized use of firecrackers, especially the powerful ones like the pla-pla, bawang, and "atomic bomb" is the fact that 18 pyrotechnic-related injuries in last year's New Year's Eve celebrations required amputations.
Ouch! Surely, nobody wants to greet 2023 with missing digits.
