SAN JOSE, Antique – The provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO) here warned Antiqueños against the use of firecrackers as they celebrate the holiday season.
“We are aiming for a zero-casualty related to firecrackers this Christmas and New Year,” PDRRM officer Broderick Train said on Dec. 23.
He added the “Iwas Paputok” campaign was spearheaded by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Integrated Provincial Health Office in the province, with the assistance of the PDRRMO.
“As of Monday, there had been so far no firecracker-related incident yet that had been reported,” Train said.
Provincial Police Office deputy director Norby Escobar recently warned to apprehend vendors who will be seen selling prohibited firecrackers.
“Among the prohibited firecrackers are piccolo, watusi, whistle bomb, Judas belt, atomic bomb and triangle,” Escobar said.
He added vendors who will be caught selling the prohibited firecrackers will be fined from P20,000 to P30,000 with one-year imprisonment.
“Vendors should also be selling only in the designated areas and not along the streets,” he said.
Last year, there were 10 firecracker-related incidents reported in the province, involving two minors – a six-year-old boy from Hamtic town and a 10-year-old boy from San Jose de Buenavista who obtained injuries from a candle bomb.
Eight other victims obtained minor injuries from blast burns and were treated as outpatients while the two little boys were admitted at the Delegate Angel Salazar Memorial Hospital during the New Year’s Eve.(With a report from PNA/PN)
