Bocaue ’cracker trade resumes

A policeman inspects the ruins of a firecracker factory after the Oct. 12 blast in Bocaue, Bulacan province. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Firecracker manufacturers and traders in Bocaue town in Bulacan province, have resumed production and reopened their stores in time for the Christmas and New Year holiday demand, after a temporary shutdown following the Oct. 12 store explosion that killed two persons and injured 24 others.

Bocaue Mayor Joni Villanueva-Tugna lifted her suspension order after 104 members of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PPMDAI) in the town completed a mandatory four-day seminar conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on basic occupational safety and health standards.

But government agencies are keeping a close watch on the traders, said lawyer Ana Dione, Dole director in Central Luzon. Bocaue is the acknowledged firecracker capital in the country.

“Regular inspections [of the factory and retail sites in the firecracker-producing town] will be conducted. Inspectors from the region will be joined by our central office staff, from the occupational safety and health center staff and from workers’ groups in Bulacan,” Dione said.

An investigation ordered by Dione showed that the Gina Gonzales Fireworks, the stall where the explosion occurred in Bocaue, did not properly store the chemicals and materials used in making firecrackers. Gonzales was one of the blast’s fatalities.

“[The improper chemical storage] may have caused the fire when it was exposed to water [from] past rains. None of the staff at the time of the incident knew how to operate their fire extinguisher,” said May Lynn Gozun, Dole Bulacan field office head.

Senior Insp. Renan Batchine, Bocaue fire marshall, said the chemicals were kept inside a wooden cabinet and were being repacked into smaller containers.

Tugna urged PPMDAI members to produce items considered legal by government.

The fireworks industry had been concerned that the accident would lead to a national firecracker ban being advocated by the Department of Health (DOH).

But citing information relayed by the DOH, Tugna said, “There is likely no imposition of a total ban of fireworks due to the possible loss of jobs [in fireworks factories].”

Joven Ong, an industry leader, said DOH data showed that almost all of the fireworks-related injuries were caused by smuggled and illegal fireworks. Last year, DOH records showed, “piccolo,” a smuggled firecracker, caused 57 percent of injuries during the holiday revelry.—WITH A REPORT FROM CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE