MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, in a statement on Sunday, directed the police, the fire bureau and local officials to ensure zero casualty from firecrackers.
The Department of Health, however, reported also on Sunday two cases of firecracker injuries.
Injured were a 23-year-old man from Manila and a four-year-old girl from Cagayan Valley. The two suffered slight burns.
The use of firecrackers in the country has been limited to fireworks displays, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 28 in 2017 providing for the regulation and control of firecrackers.
His spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Sunday: “We can celebrate Christmas and New Year through merrymaking that will not endanger our lives and bodies.”—With reports from Tina G. Santos and Julie M. Aurelio