BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in this city called on local government officials to ban firecrackers and pyrotechnics this holiday season amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Aside from preventing spikes in air pollution and accidents, discontinuing the ritual of blasting firecrackers would help curb the spread of COVID-19, said Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief.
People tend to gather where firecracker use and fireworks are and this doesn’t promote social distancing, he explained.
With the ongoing pandemic, Drilon hopes the public will realize the “unnecessary spending” for firecrackers would mean a “tremendous impact on our pockets.”
The Bacolod Firecracker Vendors Association recently asked the City Mayor’s Office and the Sangguniang Panlungsod to allow the sale of firecrackers at the designated zone in the reclamation area.
“We will wait for the decision of the mayor and the city council so that proper health protocols will be implemented,” said Executive Assistant Ernie Pineda, cluster head on markets.
He cited the statement of the Regional Civil Security Unit (RSCU) in Western Visayas, allowing firecracker vendors to sell their products if they were able to attend the fireworks safety seminar conducted by the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association and the Philippine National Police in Bacolod City two years ago.
“Only those who have attended the seminar can sell or display their products,” he added.
Pineda, who held a meeting with the firecracker vendors last week, noted that the documents of the firecracker vendors were already forwarded to the RCSU, but they still needed the approval of Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the City Council.
In previous years, about 73 firecracker vendors in Bacolod City secured special permits to sell at the firecracker zone./PN