BAGUIO CITY — With the Yuletide season just few weeks away, the City Council is urged to pass an ordinance imposing a total ban on the sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials to prevent injuries and even death.
Dr. Donna Tubera-Panes, City Health Services Office Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head, said that as early as now, they are praying that the city council will pass an ordinance to ban all kinds of firecrackers that may harm people especially the school children.
She reported tha11 cases of firecracker-related injuries were monitored in the city last year and that more than half of the victims were minors with the firecracker “Piccolo” as the number one cause of injuries.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan is consistent in his stand against sale of firecrackers in the city, and he has been continuously lobbying to the legislative department to come up with an ordinance for the total ban of firecrackers.
For his part, City Fire Marshal, Superintendent Joe Ferdinand Bangyod said it is high time for people to revisit the way they celebrate the Christmas and New Year festivities – by not exploding firecrackers and lighting up pyrotechnic materials in order to prevent the destruction of life and property.
A total ban on the sale and use of firecrackers is seen to boost the DOH’s ‘Iwas Paputok’ that aims to achieve a zero firework-related injury leading to a healthy and safe Christmas and New Year celebration./JDP/JBZ- PIA CAR
