DOH: 3 of 7 firecracker-related injuries involve teenagers or younger

MANILA, Philippines — Three out of seven victims of firework-related injuries recorded as of Tuesday were individuals aged 19 and below, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

While the DOH did not disclose the body parts injured for confidentiality, the agency said that most of them were affected by 5-star and “boga” or improvised cannon.

READ: DOH advises public to stay safe and healthy this holiday season

The DOH said that the total cases were gathered from the 62 sentinel hospitals, or hospitals designated to monitor health-related emergencies, from December 21, 2025 to 4 a.m. of December 23, 2025. The DOH noted that this total tally is 75% lower than the 28 total cases logged during the same period last year. 

With this, the DOH reminded the public to dial National Emergency Hotline 911 for emergency medical assistance or bring the patient to the nearest hospital.

The agency earlier said that the National Kidney Transplant Institute is cooperating with the East Avenue Medical Center and Philippine Heart Center in monitoring and assisting patients of firework-related and road crash injuries, and non-communicable diseases like stroke and bronchial asthma.

The DOH recorded a total of 844 firework-related injuries from December 21, 2024 to January 6, 2025. It noted that most of the victims used “kuwitis” or rocket firecracker. 

READ: LIST: Banned firecrackers, pyrotechnics

The Philippine National Police earlier reminded the public of the following prohibited types of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices (FCPD): 

• Overweight: firecrackers with more than ⅓ teaspoon or more than 0.2 gram of net explosive content
• Oversized: like super lolo, giant whistle bomb, atomic big triangule and etc.
• Mixture of sulfur and/or phosphorus with that of chlorates
• Class 1,2 and 3: suitable for the general public but Class 4 shall only be sold to licensed pyrotechnicians and/or fireworks display operators

List of firecrackers not allowed to be used anywhere in the country:

• Watusi
• Lolo Thunder
• Pop pop
• Atomic Triangle
• Pla-pla
• Mother rockets
• Piccolo
• Goodbye Philippines
• Five Star
• Goodbye Dilemma
• Giant Bawang
• Goodbye Napoles
• Giant Whistle Bomb
• Coke-in-Can
• Atomic Bomb
• Bin Laden
• Large-size Judas Belt
• Pillbox
• Super Lolo
• Kabasi
• Goodbye Bading
• Super Yolanda
• Boga
• Kwiton
• Hello Columbia
• Tuna
• GPH Nuclear
• Special
• Goodbye Chismosa
• King Kong
• Dart Bomb
• All overweight and oversized FCPD
• All imported finished products
• Other unlabeled locally made FCPD products
• Other types of firecrackers with other brands/names equivalent to those that are prohibited
• Other unlabeled locally made FCPD products /mr