Watch fireworks in designated areas, QC, Marikina folk told

The chief executives of Marikina and Quezon City are encouraging their residents to enjoy community-based fireworks displays in the run-up to the New Year in a bid to contain the potentially deadly use of banned firecrackers.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte enjoined the public to attend community fireworks displays that will be simultaneously staged on New Year’s Eve at the Quezon City Memorial Circle, La Loma area (Calavite corner A. Bonifacio Avenue, Barangay Paang Bundok), Novaliches area (SB Plaza, Barangay Novaliches Proper) and Eastwood Mall Open Park.

Otherwise, she added, there are 180 designated zones around the city where firecrackers and pyrotechnics can be lighted.

“We urge the public to use fireworks only within the permitted zones in the city,” Belmonte said in a statement.

“We hope everyone will cooperate with the city government in promoting safe and responsible celebration during the holidays.”Violators face a P5,000 fine or one-year imprisonment.

In Marikina, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro encouraged residents to attend a community fireworks display and year-end concert  on Dec. 30 (Monday) from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Marikina Sports Center.

Marikina concert

The concert will feature top Filipino bands, including December Avenue, IV of Spades and This Band, as well as homegrown acts from Marikina.

The annual event began as far back as the late 1990s as a “gift’’ to all Marikina residents every Christmas season, according to events manager Winnie Mariano, who is organizing the concert and fireworks display.The sale and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics are banned in the city.

In Muntinlupa City, barangays and commercial establishments are allowed to mount “community fireworks display’’ in designated areas.

City officials also vowed to achieve zero casualties during the New Year revelries by strictly enforcing City Ordinance No. 14-092, which prohibits the manufacture, sale and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

Violators will be fined P5,000 or imprisoned for up to six months, while establishments will have their business permits revoked on top of the fines and jail penalties.

According to city Public Information Officer Tez Navarro, there has been a downtrend in the number of injuries in the last few years because of the total ban on firecrackers. From 13 injuries in 2016, the number dropped to six in 2017, and two in 2018. The Department of Health last year recorded 340 injuries from lighted firecrackers, including 123 cases in Metro Manila. Modified mufflers

The city government is launching its “Iwas Paputok” information drive today in a motorcade through the city’s nine barangays where “torotot’’ (party horn) will be distributed to residents.

Officials also cautioned motorists against modifying their vehicles’ mufflers to welcome the New Year, or face stiff fines. Motorbikes with removed or modified mufflers could blast up to 120 decibels of noise within a 15-meter distance, causing pain to humans.