HOT AND COLDVendors report brisk sale of fireworks but slow turnover on firecrackers because of government restrictions. This photo was taken in Guinobatan town, Albay.—NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Eleven more cases brought to 72 the total number so far of firecracker-related injuries on a list being kept by the Department of Health (DOH) that offers a glimpse into the mostly self-inflicted harm that firecracker use brings.
The injuries, while markedly fewer than previous years’, was not expected to be a factor in the sale of firecrackers or fireworks by vendors in Bocaue, Bulacan.
In what is considered to be the country’s firecracker capital, vendors had been reporting increased demand for fireworks but attributed this to supply shortage.
Firecracker sale had been described as tepid, owing to a new executive order issued by President Duterte prohibiting the use of firecrackers except in designated firecracker zones.
No windfall
Demand pushed prices up, though there would be no windfall for fireworks factory workers who had been laid off when factory owners decided to shut down this year.
The DOH said the number of injuries from firecracker use was 59 percent lower than the average in the last five years and 40 percent lower than last year’s.
Metro Manila had the most cases, 32, while Western Visayas had nine and the Bicol region, eight.
The good news, according to the DOH, was there was no case of firework ingestion or stray bullet, so far.
The profiles of victims didn’t change, though. More than a majority, or 96 percent, were males.
A list of which body parts were injured showed hands (68 percent), eyes (15 percent), and head (10 percent).
More injuries seen
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said, though, that the injury list was likely to grow as year-end celebrations get underway.
In Bocaue, a fireworks vendor, Gambi Camlian, said pyrotechnic devices “that dazzle people with color” were bestsellers.
But prices had gone up, too. Some products that cost P400 last year now cost P550. Others that cost as much as P2,500 last year now cost P3,500.
Another vendor, Evelyn Mendoza, said a piece of “kwitis” now costs P7 up from P2.50. A firecracker known as “Judas’ belt” now costs P70 from P50 last year.
Chinese tradition
Some of the vendors attributed the low supply to Mr. Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) No. 28, which prohibits firecracker use except in areas designated by local governments.
Celso Cruz, chair emeritus of Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., said using firecrackers to create loud noise to drive away bad spirits from homes, a Chinese-inspired tradition, was no longer possible under Mr. Duterte’s EO.
Binong de Silva, a firecracker maker, said many firecracker manufacturers decided to simply close shop “because some groups pushed for a ban and that scared us.” “It hurt us deeply,” said De Silva.
Workers in the firecracker and fireworks industry had difficulty landing other jobs, he said. —Julie M. Aurelio, Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Yolanda Sotelo and Gabriel Cardinoza