Seized illegal fireworks at Rodelsa Rotonda, Cagayan de Oro City on December 30, 2023. [PHP Channel One Photo]
MindanaoToday.com | Fireworks blasts hurt 17 persons in NorMin
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
Northern Mindanao has tallied 17 fireworks-related injuries (FWRI) during Christmas’ and New Year’s revelries even with an ongoing inter-agency campaign against illegal firecrackers.
A briefer from the Department of Health (DOH) Region 10 on January 1, 2024 showed the 17 FWRI were from December 21 to 31 last year. This was a 70-percent increase over that of the same period in 2022 and was the most injuries since 2016 when 28 persons sought medical care.
More than half of the 17 FWRI in the region were traced to “Triangle” blasts inflicting wounds and cuts on the hands and faces of five persons, and two other patients each from “Kwitis” and “Piccolo” – brands included in the list of banned firecrackers, pursuant to Republic Act No. 7183 or the Fireworks Regulation Act of 1992.
On Saturday, December 30, members of city government-created Task Group Firecrackers and Fireworks (TGFF) hauled assorted banned firecrackers and pyrotechnics without Product Standard (PS) stickers. These were taken within the premises of a designated display area for fireworks at the Rodelsa Rotonda in Cagayan de Oro.
Engineer Jane Javier Docallos, city director of the Department of Interior and Local Government and TGFF head, said the seized fireworks valued at P300 thousand included banned “Piccolo” and “OG” firecrackers while most of pyrotechnics were imported. These, she she said were still in boxes and found hidden in a grassy area and on placed on branches of a mango tree.
Docallos told reporters that not one of those, with special permits to sell firecrackers, came forward to claim what they seized. These, she said, would be stored at the Cagayan de Oro City Police headquarters for inventory and would be properly disposed, in due time.
The Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) of the Philippine National Police (PNP), as provided for under R.A. 7183, issues special permits for the sale, manufacture, distribution, and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnics devices.
In a statement posted online afternoon of December 30, Brigadier General Ricardo Layug Jr. said, “The use of illegal firecrackers not only poses danger to your health and safety but also violates the law.” He warned violators of the penal provisions of R.A. 7183 consisting of fines of at least P20,000 and imprisonment of at least six months, upon the discretion of the judicial court.
Of the 17 FWRI incidents that DOH Northern Mindanao has, so far, documented, four of the reported injuries were from Cagayan de Oro. Bukidnon has the most cases eight, two each from Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental, and one from Iligan City.
The surveillance period of the DOH Northern Mindanao, through its Research, Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Disaster Response Unit (RESDRU) started on December 21, 2023 and to end on Saturday, January 6, 2024.
Earlier, Medical Doctor Ellenietta Gamolo, DOH director for Northern Mindanao, released Regional Memorandum No. 2023-55, declaring a Code White Alert (CWA) effective December 21, 2023 until January 6, 2024 for FWRI surveillance.
CWA means the DOH Northern Mindanao personnel, including development management officers, human resources for health, contract of service, DOH hospitals, medical health centers, and other health agencies “shall be on standby, on-call, and to report to the office immediately in case of emergency situation.”
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