Police seize, destroy ‘Super Yolanda’, ‘Napoles’
Hundreds of pupils of Commonwealth elementary school in Quezon city join an Anti-Firecrackers campaign this holiday season, adding that there are lots of ways to make noise despite the use of firecrackers on New year’s eve.INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines – Police officials on Friday destroyed illegal firecrackers that were confiscated Thursday from stores in Divisoria.
The illegal items included “Napoles” and “Super Yolanda,” firecrackers named after the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam and the supertyphoon that hit the Visayas and killed thousands of Filipinos.
To demonstrate the danger posed by illegal firecrackers, officers of the Manila Police District put them beside pieces of meat before lighting them up and causing loud explosions at the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Manila Police District chief said the effect of the firecrackers on the meat, which was blasted to pieces, should serve as a stern warning to people planning to buy illegal firecrackers.
He said this was also aimed at assessing the consequence and damage of these firecrackers to life and property.
The firecrackers that went off on the open field at Rizal Park shattered the pork hinds, sending them flying into the air, and shook nearby establishments.
On Thursday, the MPD raided stalls in Divisoria selling illegal firecrackers such as “Goodbye Philippines,” “Atomic Bomb,” “Piccolo” and “Bin Laden.”
Cruz said these firecrackers were banned because they used explosive content more than the allowed limit of 0.2 gram.
Assistant Health Secretary Eric Tayag, spokesman of the Department of Health, announced on Twitter that as of December 27, the DOH had recorded a total of 140 people injured by firecrackers and five persons wounded by stray bullets.
Tayag reported that a “Super Yolanda” firecracker rippedoff the right hand of a 14-year-old boy in Cebu City. A 5-year-old boy lost his right index finger after using a “camara” or a small dynamite stick, he said.
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