Now Duterte wants law on total firecracker ban

Workers at Bocaue town in Bulacan province are expected to lose their jobs once a law banning firecrackers is passed. —JOAN BONDOC

After limiting the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics to designated areas nationwide during the holidays, President Rodrigo Duterte now wants to ban these items through a new law, Malacañang announced on Tuesday.

The government, however, will provide alternative livelihood to some 75,000 workers expected to lose their jobs through the ban, said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Mr. Duterte pushed for the ban during the Cabinet meeting on Monday.

“The President also indicated that he will push for Congress to enact a law that would ban all firecrackers and pyrotechnics,” Roque said in a press briefing.

“He wants Congress to enact this law at the soonest time possible so that the public debate on the banning of fireworks and pyrotechnics could begin as early as possible,” he added.

Mr. Duterte is aware that some 75,000 individuals are working in the firecrackers industry, he said.

“He instructed the Department of Trade and Industry to look for alternative livelihood for would-be displaced workers,” he added.

Consultation with members of the local firecracker and pyrotechnic industry would be held during the congressional hearings on the proposed law, he said.

Roque said the President’s decision was not based on any recommendation, but on Mr. Duterte’s long-held belief that firecrackers are harmful.

He noted that when Mr. Duterte was Davao City Mayor, he had always banned firecrackers.

In Bulacan province, fireworks manufacturers said they would appeal “to the kind heart of Mr. Duterte” and try to convince him to reconsider the ban, said Celso Cruz, president emeritus of the Philippine Pyrotechnic Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc.

Joven Ong, president of the Philippine Fireworks Association, said he was consulting members about a proper response to the ban.

In June last year, the President issued Executive Order No. 28 limiting the use of firecrackers to community fireworks displays, citing as basis the substantial number of firecracker-related injuries and casualties recorded every year. —WITH A REPORT FROM CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE