Cebu City police destroy P1.5M worth of illegal firecrackers

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The police on Saturday destroyed around P1.5 million worth of illegal firecrackers that they had seized from various operations here.

Among the illegal products were 14,947 pieces of piccolo, 874 pieces of Super Lolo, 91 pieces of Lolo Thunder, 63 pieces of big triangulo, 399 pieces of mother rockets, 31 of pieces boga, 108 pieces of Judah’s belt, 392 pieces of big bawang and 236,023 other types of firecrackers.

Police used water cannon to soak the seized firecrackers and render them useless at the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 7 Headquarters, Camp Ceperino Genovia in Sibonga town, Cebu.

Brigadier General Val De Leon, director of the Central Visayas police, said the confiscation of the firercackers were guided by President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 28 providing for the regulation and control of the use of fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices.

In spite of the law prohibiting the sale and manufacture of dangerous firecrackers, De Leon said there are still many who sell these banned items.

“Still, with the continued support from local government units and other civil security groups, our efforts to crack down illegal manufacturers in their unsafe production/practices and product distribution is an achievement,” he said.

Republic Act No. 7183, he said, prohibits the sale, manufacture, and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices such firecrackers as Super Lolo, Goodbye Earth, Five Star, whistle bomb, atomic triangle, piccolo, watusi, and pla-pla, among others.

/atm