‘No guns, firecrackers this New Year’

Don’t fire guns. Don’t use firecrackers to celebrate the New Year.

This again is the Department of Health’s plea to the public after nine persons were injured by firecracker blasts last Christmas Day while two others were hit by stray bullets in Cebu.

Of the nine victims of the firecracker blasts, one has to have a part of his body  amputated, said Dr. Susana Madarieta, regional director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7).

Madarieta, however, said that the firecracker-related injuries were lower compared to the same period last year.

“This is 20 percent lower compared  to the period last year with 12 cases,” Madarieta said.

She attributed the lower figures to the health department’s early campaign of the Iwas Paputok program and of people realizing that buying firecrackers wasn’t their priority this year.

The two stray bullet victims were from Talisay City and Cebu City.

Evangeline Tacoloy, 25, of sitio Mahayahay, Candulawan, Talisay City was watching television at 12:05 a.m. when a bullet from a .45 caliber pistol pierced their roof and hit her arm.

She was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Talisay City police chief Eddie Recamara said they were investigating the incident and assured that it wasn’t a policeman who fired his gun.

Recamara said he already checked the taped service firearms of the policeman and these weren’t used.

He said police were now checking on the trajectory of the bullet to find out the possible areas where the gun was fired.

At about the same time as Tacoloy was wounded, in barangay Tisa, Cebu City, Maria Fe Narciso, 53, was also hit by a stray bullet.

She was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center where she was treated for her wounds.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of Cebu City Intelligence Branch, agreed with Madarieta’s reason for the lower number of victims.

Santander also attributed this to the proper and early information dissemination to the public about the dangers of firecrackers.

Despite this, Madarieta is still expecting an increase in the number of firecracker-related injuries during the New Year’s celebrations.

She said that it’s the season where most of the people buy firecrackers as part of the tradition in welcoming the year.

The DOH is still under code white alert until Jan. 1 to ensure that all government medical facilities will be prepared for prompt emergency services during the holidays. /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan with Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya and Correspondent Chito O. Aragon