In Bulacan, firecracker sales drop as buyers choose fireworks

A stall owner in Bocaue displays sparklers, fountains and other pyrotechnic products as buyers avoid firecrackers. — JOAN BONDOC

BOCAUE, Bulacan — As 2017 ended, sales of firecrackers dropped by as much as 30 to 40 percent while those of fireworks zoomed, thanks in part to an executive order restricting their use and display.

Minia Camlian, owner of Minia’s Fireworks, said customers came in droves on the last few hours of Dec. 31, so many fireworks stalls worked overtime. Some stall owners reportedly offered discounts to clear their inventory.

While most stalls selling firecrackers would not give figures, a dealer said many garnered sales of P300,000 to P350,000, a slide from the average of P500,000 from previous Yuletide holidays.

But Executive Order (EO) No. 28 that tightened sale and use of pyrotechnic products appeared to have boosted the sale of fireworks. The order required firecrackers to be set off only in safe zones designated by local governments and encouraged community fireworks displays to reduce the risk of blast injuries.

At Barangay Turo here, almost all stalls sold stocks produced before EO 28 was issued in June.

Many manufacturers decided not to produce more fireworks and firecrackers, owing to the new restrictions, which may have been another reason for the moderate sales at the end of 2017, according to Evelyn Mendoza, owner of Fantasy Fireworks.

“We ended the year with good enough sales despite the EO. Compared with previous years, we didn’t have enough stocks anyway. We managed to sell every item,” she said.

A worker at a makeshift factory at Bocaue town in Bulacan province finishes a batch of “kwitis” (skyrockets) for the holiday market. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Empty streets

Turo is the designated market for firecrackers in this town considered as the country’s fireworks capital.

But compared with previous years, traffic was smooth along Bocaue’s major thoroughfares in the last days of December, said Robert Mesa, 40, a village watchman.

“The streets were sometimes empty. In previous years, vehicles barely moved along the route to Turo,” he said.

Joven Ong, president of the Philippine Fireworks Association, said EO 28 had been effective, despite complaints from local fireworks and firecracker manufacturers.

Ong, who owns Dragon Fireworks, said the decision to require safe zones all over the country was in the industry’s best interest and had ensured a drop in blast injuries. —Carmela Reyes-Estrope