After PhilHealth controversy, ‘Cracker victims face lower aid

After the P89.9-billion reserve fund controversy, the Department of Health (DoH) is considering reducing the subsidies for PhilHealth members hospitalized for injuries due to firecracker use. 

Injuries from pyrotechnics continued to rise following the New Year’s revelries across the country.

“That’s what we’re looking at as a deterrent,” said DoH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo.

He clarified that hospitals will continue to treat victims, but most costs will be borne by the patients who are proven to have used firecrackers or noisemakers.

“You will be treated and cared for because that is mandated under the Universal Healthcare Act, but the burden of expenses and premium costs, the installments that are charged, which are deducted from salaries if we are employees, we need to study that,” Domingo said.

He said that if the victims or their families are informal settlers or beneficiaries of government subsidies, it may appear that the government is being “used” or “exploited.”

“What if the victim’s parents are informal settlers, or unemployed and subsidized by the government, because what will happen is the government will be fried in its own lard, which also means we are too. When it says subsidized, we also pay for their premiums (benefits), which we all contribute to. We said through our government not to let the child handle firecrackers, but it still happened. The question is, what is the deterrent so that it doesn’t happen again?” he said.

As of 1 January, the latest verified injury count was 235, but the total may exceed 500.

He said this number is still lower than the 2025 data, which recorded 803 firecracker-related injuries.

“We hope that will happen, but until we see the numbers, there may still be some for validation... so hopefully it won’t reach 803 [cases] like last year,” he said.

Zero ingestion but more amputations

“Most of those hit by firecrackers were minors,” the health official said, including some instances where the victims were babies. “What was reported was anecdotal, but it is still being verified. What I’m sure of is that the youngest amputation was six years old.”

So far, DoH records indicated eight or nine amputations as of 2 January, with victims identified as minors. 

Domingo noted that grazes are also counted as injuries, as incidents of “boga” or improvised cannon injuries continue to be recorded in 2026 despite multiple warnings from authorities.

“Even if you say there’s no gunpowder, it still explodes. There’s a combustible component, so in essence, when we say fireworks, we’re still using fire, so it explodes,” he said.

One casualty

According to the DoH, there was one recorded casualty during the celebrations. 

A 12-year-old child in Tondo, Manila, died after a powerful firecracker exploded. A second incident in Pangasinan involved two individuals who were injured when a fireworks repacking warehouse exploded.

The victims were just passing through the warehouse when the blast happened.

“The two victims in Pangasinan are for validation,” Domingo said. “The DoH does not deny that this incident happened, but we’re saying ‘for validation’ as we are waiting for additional details on the incident.”

Domingo said the health department categorizes firecracker-related injuries as burns without amputation and burns with amputation. 

Incidents that affect eyes and lungs, causing vision or breathing problems, are also included.

“As long as body parts are affected, it is counted,” he said.