Baguio firemen seek ’cracker ban
BAGUIO CITY—Firemen have taken up the fight for a law that will permanently ban the sale and use of firecrackers in the summer capital.
On Dec. 21, members of the Baguio Fire Department put up booths in the downtown area to get signatures for a petition calling for an anti-firecracker ordinance from the city council.
The mayor’s office is again expected to issue a circular prohibiting the sale of firecrackers during the holidays. But the city council has not approved any measure that would impose a permanent ban, said Supt. Joe Ferdinand Bangyod, the city’s fire marshal.
Since 2011, Mayor Mauricio Domogan has been issuing circulars banning the sale of all forms of pyrotechnics. However, a growing number of firecracker-related injuries have been reported.
‘Safe Baguio’ crusade
Last year, hospitals treated 70 people during the revelries from Christmas week to New Year’s Eve, according to the city’s health department. The figure was higher than the 52 listed in 2013.
To draw attention to their “Safe Baguio” crusade, Bangyod and his men on Monday parked firetrucks and put up small tables around the downtown area where residents could sign the petition.
The petitioners “signify [their] full support for the ‘Safe Baguio’ program of the Bureau of Fire Protection … in its campaign against the display, sale and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices,” Bangyod said.
They also “encourage the cooperation of city officials by enacting the law banning these devices,” he said.
Twelve villages have passed resolutions urging a firecracker ban to support the crusade.
But Bangyod was not optimistic about the approval of the ordinance soon.
“We know the council will suspend work for the holidays and won’t act on this petition this year. We hope to get more people to sign so we have bigger support when we transmit the petition to the council in January,” he said. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
