Firecracker injuries rise; boy loses finger

MANILA, Philippines — Fifteen more individuals were injured from firecracker blasts, including a 12-year-old boy from Talisay City, Negros Occidental who lost a finger due to a whistle bomb, a Department of Health (DOH) report showed yesterday.

The boy was an active user of firecrackers and was brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital for treatment, according to the DOH.

A 62-year-old man from Quezon City also had a finger amputated after a whistle bomb exploded on his right hand. He was brought to the East Avenue Medical Center.

Based on a report prepared by the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau, the 15 new cases brought to 29 the total number of firecracker-related injuries documented in 50 sentinel sites nationwide since Dec. 21, the start of the monitoring period for such injuries.

The DOH said the figure is still 59 percent or 42 cases lower than the same period in 2016. It noted that 19 of the cases were due to piccolo, a seemingly harmless firecracker designed for children, while 22 injuries occurred on the street.

Business as usual

While the number of firecracker-related injuries increased, a vendor of firecrackers and pyrotechnics in Binang First in Bocaue, Bulacan told The STAR it was “business as usual” for them despite the firecracker ban being imposed by the government.

“We don’t feel (the ban) because many customers are still coming to buy firecrackers,” Jana, 25, who has been selling firecrackers for five years now, claimed.

She added that they expect customers to flock in as the New Year approaches.

Under Executive Order No. 28, the use of firecrackers is limited only to community displays.

Ronnie of Baesa, Quezon City, thought the demand for firecrackers would wane because of this prohibition but he was wrong.

“There are still many orders from my customers. I thought I would not sell much this year but my customers are still looking for firecrackers,” he maintained.

Ronnie went to Bocaue, the country’s firecracker capital, to buy firecrackers in bulk and then resell them to some stores and his individual customers.

Army trooper among hurt in CAR

In the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), a Philippine Army trooper and two nine-year-old pupils were among those hurt by firecrackers during Christmas revelries.

Private First Class Ian Canapang, 26, from Poblacion, Tanudan, Kalinga blistered his right thumb when he lit a pla-pla on Christmas Eve.

Canapang went to the Kalinga Provincial Hospital in Tabuk City on Christmas Day.

Also in Tabuk, Ranier Lumpio Gamongan from Purok 6, Bulanao, was brought to the hospital by his relatives after accidentally exploding an improvised toy gun loaded with firecracker powder on Christmas Eve.

The victim sustained superficial burn on his left palm.

Three days before Christmas Day, grade 3 pupil Wilmer Ollier Elardo from Purok 3, Busilac in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao was rushed to hospital after he lit a piccolo which immediately exploded in his right hand. – Artemio Dumlao