32 nabbed for firecracker ban violation in Davao

DAVAO CITY—At least 32 persons, six of them adults, were apprehended by the police for violating the city’s firecrackers ban on Christmas Eve.

No casualty or injury has been reported.

Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa, city police chief, said six adults were detained awaiting summary inquest today, while the 26 minors were turned over either to the police’s Children Center or the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The children will be released to their parents after undergoing a brief counseling by the Women and Children Protection Desk.

The ban on the use and sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnics was first implemented in Davao City in 2001. Through the years, the number of violations has been decreasing, especially the number of firecracker or stray bullet related deaths and injuries.

In last year’s holiday season, police recorded 91 arrested violators.

In Cebu, at least nine firecracker blast victims on Tuesday were treated to different hospitals in Cebu and Mandaue Cities during the Christmas Eve revelry.

Three were brought to the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC). One of them was a 13-year-old boy from Talisay City, Cebu who suffered injuries when a whistle bomb exploded in his hand past 10 p.m. of Dec. 24, said VSMMC spokesperson Nonoy Mongaya.

A 42-year-old woman in Talisay City was wounded in the leg after she was hit by a firecracker called “Beauty in the Sky” at 12:45 a.m. yesterday.

The third victim was a child who suffered eye injury after being hit by a firecracker.

Five victims were brought to Cebu City Medical Center.

In Mandaue City, a boy was brought to the Mandaue City Hospital yesterday to treat minor burns on his hands. Ayan C. Mellejor, Inquirer Mindanao and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas