COTABATO CITY—At least 12 people were injured by firecrackers and fireworks explosions during Christmas and New Year revelry in the region of Soccskargen, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Jenny Panizales, speaking for the DOH regional office, said her office recorded 12 cases of firecracker injuries between Dec. 21 to Jan. 1 in the provinces that compose Soccksargen—North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.
The number of injury cases, however, was lower than that of the same period in 2018, Panizares said.
But in this city, officials claimed their record of zero firecracker injury during the holidays remained unbroken.
Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi had made sure the record stood by strengthening her campaign against firecrackers, even personally roaming during the revelry to check if the city’s residents complied with the firecracker ban.
South Cotabato had the highest number of firecracker-related injuries, posting six cases this year; followed by North Cotabato, which posted four cases and the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, which posted one case each.