Laguna police destroy P1M worth of illegal firecrackers

A firecracker named “Bin Laden” is arranged by a Filipino policeman as he piles seized illegal firecrackers at Camp Karingal in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Saturday Dec. 29, 2012. The items were seized from vendors as part of their drive to suppress the use of illegal pyrotechnics or giant firecrackers during the New Year revelry which has caused injury or death to many Filipinos. AP/Aaron Favila

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Laguna, Philippines–Hours before New Year’s Eve, the Laguna police on Monday destroyed several illegal firecrackers that were confiscated from different manufacturers and individuals in the province.

Included in the stash were “Piccolo,” “Good Bye Earth” and “Good Bye Philippines,” which the government banned as they could harm revelers or even be fatal, said Senior Supt. Pascual Muñoz, Laguna police director.

Muñoz said majority of the firecrackers were seized from warehouses of local manufacturers and vendors in Sta. Cruz and San Pedro towns during a series of raids conducted last week by the police.

He said the firecrackers destroyed by police on Monday were worth P1 million.

“Some of the manufacturers had licenses (to operate) but they were manufacturing the illegal ones,” said Senior Insp. Vicente Cabatingan of the Special Police Task Group that led the crackdown.

Police disposed off the firecrackers by exploding the smaller ones or dousing them with water at the firing range of the provincial police headquarters in Sta. Cruz.

“Those that were really destructive, like the “Goodbye Earth,” had to be buried in the rice fields. We could not explode them here, otherwise we would have blown up the whole camp,” said Cabatingan.