While the number of fireworks-related injuries dropped 35 percent in 2019, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III batted for a total ban to bring the number of casualties down to zero.
READ: DOH: Fewer ‘cracker victims ahead of New Year
In a news conference at the East Avenue Medical Center, Duque said more injuries this year were caused by legal fireworks than illegal ones.
He said there is always the risk of an accident with firecrackers, whether they are legal or illegal.
The way to achieve zero casualties, he said, is to ban fireworks altogether as some other countries have done.
Data from the Health department’s Epidemiology Bureau showed the top five causes of fireworks-related injuries were kwitis, 33; luces, 19; fountain, 18; piccolo, 13 and baby rocket, 9.
Among the top five, only piccolo is prohibited.
“It’s oxymoronic that it is legal but it is injurious. Those two things are not in congruence,” Duque said.
The DOH recorded 164 fireworks-related injuries from Dec. 21, 2019 to Jan. 1, 2020.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or victims from stray bullets in the New Year celebration, but the number of injuries is expected to increase because the DOH will record cases up to Jan. 6.
READ: New Year revelry: Be safe, sound; avoid 'crackers, DOH warns
The figures came from 61 government hospitals nationwide.
Duque said the figure is 35 percent lower from the same period in 2018 leading to New Year’s 2019.
He added that the number is 71 percent lower than the five-year average of 403 cases.
“We would like to think that Executive Order No. 28 had an impact as it did for the last two years in 2017, 2018 and continuing on to 2019,” Duque said, referring to the order limiting the use of firecrackers.
He said he hopes the Duterte administration can create a legacy with an absolute ban on fireworks to achieve zero injuries.
“We have the moral ascendancy to lead the way in crafting a bill for Congress to consider after we shall have consulted all the would-be affected sectors,” Duque said.
He also attributed the decrease in firecracker injuries to the Health department’s information campaign with the support of media and local chief executives.
This year, a man’s hand was amputated in Manila after a powerful firecracker, Goodbye Philippines, exploded in his grasp.
Sixteen persons were treated for burns mostly due to kuwitis (rocket) and sparklers at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
A woman was also being treated at EAMC after she was wounded in the eye while filming the festivities using her phone.
The Philippine National Police reported that there were no recorded deaths from stray bullets and the illegal discharge of firearms, the first time this has happened.
“We are grateful that the people heeded our call to shun the age-old tradition of welcoming the new year with dangerous firecrackers and gunfire that has resulted in death and injuries in previous years,” said PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac.
“Based on PNP records, 2019 probably goes down in history as the safest and most uneventful observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays that posted zero death,” he said.
The PNP Command Center recorded a total of 324 holiday-incidents nationwide involving firecrackers, stray bullets, and illegal discharge of firearms since Dec. 16, 2019.
“As of the first working hour of New Year’s Day, the PNP recorded only 81 firecracker-related injuries, mostly self-injuries by violators of the firecracker ban,” Banac said.
Although there were three reported stray bullet incidents, these did not result in injuries while seven persons were reported injured in 21 separate cases of illegal discharge of firearms, he said.
Banac said the PNP arrested 21 persons for illegal discharge of firearms and 44 others for firecracker-related offenses.
Among those arrested for firing guns during the season was Chinese national Kimy Chan who was arrested on Christmas Day in front of a music bar along Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.
Of the 21 arrested for firing guns, 14 were civilians, one was a policeman, two were soldiers, one was a militiaman, and three were security guards.
Banac said they will face stiff criminal and administrative sanctions.
Civilian violators will be slapped with criminal charges, he added.
“It should be noteworthy that the 324 incidents recorded in 2019 pales in comparison with the 798 recorded in 2018,” said Banac.
The PNP attributed the decrease to the successful information drive and awareness campaign on the adverse effects of the use of prohibited firecrackers. With PNA
READ: ‘Cracker victims fewer by 30%’
