CEBU CITY, Philippines — Despite repeated warning and reminders, a one-year-old boy was killed while 29 other persons were injured in Central and Western Visayas due to firecracker blasts and stray bullets during New Year’s Day revelries.
Raymar Generoso died around 6 a.m. Thursday in Dumaguete City, five hours after he was hit in the chest by an unknown firecracker while on a motorcycle with his father.
His father, Chris Ryan, also suffered blast injuries in the left hand and second-degree burns on his abdomen.
Harvi Durangparang of the Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) of the DOH in Central Visayas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the boy died of cardiopulmonary arrest after suffering chest trauma.
Raymar also had lacerations on the right thigh and right arm.
The victims were on their way home to their hometown in Sibulan in Negros Oriental and were passing San Lorenzo Street when a firecracker was thrown on the street but landed on the boy, according to a report of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office.
The firecracker-thrower, identified as Alex Amor, brought the victims to the Silliman University Medical Center in Dumaguete City. He later surrendered to the police and told investigators he did not intend to throw it at the victims.
Thirty cases of blast injuries and stray bullets were reported in Central and Western Visayas from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31. These included 24 in Western Visayas and six in Central Visayas.
The DOH, which had been monitoring the cases since Dec. 21 until Jan. 5, recorded 102 blast injury and stray bullet cases as of noon of Jan. 1.
These include 54 firecracker blast and two stray bullet injuries in Central Visayas and 46 firecracker blast and five stray bullet injuries in Western Visayas.
Harvi Durangparang of the HEMS of the DOH in Central Visayas said most firecrackers used were the Hotdog, Judas Belt, Whistle Bomb, Pop Up, Cannister, Araw, Piccolo, and Kwitis.
He said 59 percent of the injuries were sustained on the streets while 41 percent were within the premises of the victims’ homes.
Cebu City topped the list of most cases with 21 firecracker-related injuries and damage.
This was followed by Lapu-Lapu City (6); Minglanilla, Cebu (4); Talisay City, Cebu (3); two each for Pamplona in Negros Oriental, Consolacion in Cebu, Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental and Naga City, Cebu; and one each for Compostela in Cebu, Bacong in Negros Oriental, San Fernando, in Cebu, and Sibulan, Negros Oriental.
In Western Visayas, 24 injuries were reported in Iloilo, 10 in Negros Occidental, six in Capiz, five in Aklan and two in Guimaras, Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, regional coordinator of the DOH’s Violence and Injury Prevention Program, said.
In Iloilo City, 11 houses were burned down and three others were damaged in two separate fires early on New Year”s Day.
Eleven houses were gutted and two others were damaged in a fire that struck around 4:45 a.m. in Barangay Lopez Jaena Norte in La Paz District.
Five persons including two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the fire that was put out after nearly two hours, FO2 Michael Lopez, arson investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Iloilo City, said.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated with damage to property estimated to reach at least P700,000.
In Barangay Lopez Jaena Norte in La Paz District, a two-story house was damaged by a fire around 1:50 a.m.
One person, identified as Lea Dolindo, suffered minor burns in the hand.
Fire investigators are looking into the possibility that an unattended candle caused the fire.