STROLLING around Rizal Park on Christmas Day, 21-year-old student Ronald Zablan Paguinto stopped to buy corn on the cob from a food vendor. A sharp pain suddenly pierced his back, and he crumpled to the pavement.
He was one of 44 stray-bullet and fireworks-related incidents monitored by the Philippine National Police, doubling overnight the 23 incidents logged as of Friday morning.
The Department of Health (DOH) has so far recorded 55 fireworks- and gun-related injuries, mostly from handling the so-called “piccolo,” a small and cheap but powerful firecracker.
In its “Aksyon: Paputok Injury Reduction 2015” report, the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau said that of the 55 cases reported as of 6 a.m. Saturday, 39 or 72 percent were caused by the piccolo.
The piccolo is banned by the government but it is apparently still being sold in the market, targeting mostly children because of its attractive packaging.
The DOH added that most of the victims were active igniters of firecrackers.
The DOH earlier urged the police and local government units to strictly enforce the law against the sale of the piccolo during the holidays to significantly bring down the number of firecracker-related injuries.