E-firecrackers seen as safer way to celebrate season

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the Duterte administration’s tough enforcement of a firecracker ban, Filipinos are looking for a safer way to celebrate the holiday season with a bang.

Francisco Pagayon, president and CEO of the Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative (FISPC), said Filipinos see a Christmas and New Year bonanza with a safer alternative to traditional firecrackers.

Pagayon, inventor and manufacturer of electric firecracker or e-firecracker, said his company Oral Educational Distributor Inc. is preparing at least 500 units of his product this week.

“We’re looking forward to selling a lot of our e-firecrackers which is really a better alternative to the unsafe and environmentally harmful traditional firecrackers that Filipinos have previously commonly used to welcome the New Year with a bang,” Pagayon told The STAR.

His e-firecrackers come in four models – a full sized bazooka-like cannon “Digong” after President Duterte’s nickname; a smaller version “Boy” after Department of Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato “Boy” dela Peña; a large-sized two cannon piece designed like a military combat tank named “Bato” or the nickname of outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa; and “Trump” a package-type cannon set that comes with a platform where one can light Roman candles for launching. 

The e-frirecrackers are being sold at the FISPC OneStore Hub at the ground floor of Delta building at the corner of Quezon Avenue and West Avenue in Quezon City.

E-firecrackers produce rapid explosive sounds without causing an actual explosion, Pagayon said. 

They are made up of electronics that load electricity to produce loud sounds, similar to the explosion of piccolo firecrackers but much louder.

They do not emit black smoke unlike the traditional firecrackers favored by Filipinos, particularly young children and teenagers, Pagayon said.