Fear of Duterte brings down firecracker injuries, says DOH

Exploded firecrackers cover a stretch of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City after Saturday night’s frenzy of fireworks to greet the New Year. The city’s East Avenue Medical Center reported a drop in firecracker-related cases it treated but its chief of emergency department expected the number to rise, citing trends from previous years. –Photo by JOAN BONDOC/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Fears that maverick President Rodrigo Duterte would harshly punish revelers who celebrate the New Year with powerful firecrackers caused a “remarkable” decline, with the casualty rate down 60 percent to a decade low of 350, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial claimed on Sunday.

The country indulges in an annual orgy of New Year’s Eve merrymaking that leaves hundreds maimed as people set off firecrackers and fire guns into the air in the belief that noise would drive bad luck away.

But Ubial said injuries in this year’s revelry were the lowest in 10 years after the President warned of banning firecrackers nationwide to expand a move he introduced as mayor of Davao City 15 years ago.

“People are now afraid to light firecrackers because of the President,” Ubial told a news conference. “They have this impression that somehow they will get caught or they will be punished.”

This year’s figure “is the lowest ever,” she said. “We can’t say it’s just a coincidence. This is remarkable and very significant.”

Ubial said 350 were injured by firecrackers and fireworks this year compared to an average of 1,000 a year in the past decade.

Conflicting figures

However, Inquirer research showed that in January 2016, the health department reported a total of 384 firecracker-related injuries from Dec. 21, 2015, to Jan. 1, 2016. This represents a decrease of only 8.8 percent, year on year.

Mr. Duterte, 71, has drawn widespread criticism, including from the United States and the United Nations for his war on drugs that has killed over 6,000 people.

He won last year’s elections in a landslide on a promise to eradicate narcotics by killing tens of thousands of criminals. He also vowed to roll out Davao-style law and order measures nationwide, including banning smoking in restaurants and hotels and curbing drinking in public places.

Last month, the President said he would issue an order to ban people from using firecrackers, limiting their use to community fireworks displays.

But banning the firecrackers could affect an industry which employs at least 100,000 people in several townships in Bulacan province, the center of the multimillion-peso fireworks trade in the Philippines.

Local authorities had initially banned several factories following a huge fire in October that killed two and injured at least 24 others, but later allowed some of them to resume operations following safety checks.

Trend continues

Ubial said the bloody trend continued this year, with a
3-year-old suffering a hand injury at Cabanatuan City in Luzon. She said the worst case involved a 15-year-old girl, who slipped into a coma after she was hit in the head by a stray bullet while watching a fireworks display in Malabon.

“This is one of our saddest incidents,” Ubial said. “Even if it’s now down to 350 (injuries), that is still a lot of misery.”

At Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC), staff reported a total of 43 firecracker-related injuries and four cases of gunshots since Dec. 21, a big drop compared to previous years.

The hospital tally showed that most of the injuries involved children who were hurt by piccolo and lucis, mostly in the hands and eyes. By early Sunday, the hospital said only four new cases were added.

JRMMC said this year’s figure was 106 cases less compared to the previous year.

“Although our goal is zero casualty, we are very happy there are fewer people affected by firecrackers this year,” said Dr. Daverick de Jesus, the hospital’s officer of the day.

De Jesus also noted that most of the cases that involved children were caused by piccolo, a small cylindrical stick filled with gun powder that is banned but remains popular among kids.

One of them, 9-year-old Matt Jolo Arenas, injured his finger, while another said he was prodded by friends to try it.

“I envied my friends who knew how to light firecrackers,” the teary-eyed boy told the Inquirer. “I will not try it again.”

A few hours before New Year, 2-year-old Kyo Manga, his father, Cristopher, and 62-year-old grandmother, Josefina dela Cruz, were on the street when hit by fireworks.

“Kyo was just holding her grandmother’s hand to bless when bursts of fireworks injured them,” Cristopher said.

2 shooting incidents

De Jesus said there were two shooting incidents recorded at the hospital, but said they appeared to be “intentional and some witnesses claimed to know the perpetrator.”

De Jesus said one of those shot was a 15-year-old girl in Malabon. Police were still investigating the case while the girl underwent operation last night.

Nurses and doctors were also surprised as Jonas Manlapig, 21, walked toward the emergency desk complaining of blast injury.

Manlapig, who wore a black lace see-through dress, was injured by a kwitis that he lit along V. Serrano Street in Manila.

He was fully made up, wearing a dress and rubber shoes for a costume contest on New Year’s Eve. He had injuries to the hands, eyes and body.

“Every year, our barangay hosts a New Year party where we get to wear costumes. The winner gets P200, we were having fun,” he said. “I should not have been injured had I not volunteered to light the fireworks.”

There was also a stabbing case, a hit-and-run incident in Navotas City, and adults who were accidentally hit by fireworks while on motorbikes.

Elsewhere in Manila, more people preferred to be on the safe side.

Village watchman Josie dela Cruz of Barangay 334 in Quiricada, Manila, said she and her husband tied cans to their tricycle as they roamed the streets to create noise.

“That’s a lot better and sweeter,” she said, adding that the money they would have spent on firecrackers would now go to buy food.

The Eastern Police District reported a 54-percent drop in firecracker injuries in San Juan, Marikina, Pasig and Mandaluyong.

East Avenue Medical Center said cases dropped 57 percent year-on-year in the 10 days leading to New Year’s Eve.

But Dr. Emmanuel Galor, chief of the emergency department, said the number could still rise, citing trends from previous years.

Fires, shooting

In Mandaue City in Cebu, three separate fires razed a warehouse and more than 200 homes, leaving some 450 families homeless as they greeted the new year. No casualty was reported, but the cost of damage was estimated at P3 million, said Senior Fire Officer 1 Edgard Vergara.

In Iloilo City, Daniel Melczer, a 37-year-old from Hungary, died from at least four gunshot wounds on Sunday. Police said they arrested his neighbor Luendo Lim, 42, a seafarer with whom the victim had an argument over his firecracker use.

Health officials there said there were 63 firecracker injuries in the region since Dec. 21.

But the downward casualty trend continued in the southern Mindanao region, which had zero casualties, while health officials in Bicol region reported a 57 percent decline to only 56 injuries. In Luzon provinces, only 57 people were treated for various injuries.

Meanwhile, police said seven were arrested in Bulacan, including two persons who were caught firing an M16 rifle. There were no reports of any injuries from stray bullets in the province. —With reports from Tonette Orejas, Villamor Visaya Jr., Gabriel Cardinoza, Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Nestor P. Burgos, Ador Vincent S. Mayol, Dominic Yasay, Robert Dejon and AFP