Bulacan bucks firecracker ban

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines - – Local officials and pyrotechnics industry stakeholders yesterday scored Health Secretary Enrique Ona for asking Congress to legislate a total ban on firecrackers.

They instead suggested tighter regulation of the fireworks industry.

“We cannot outlaw tradition like the liquor ban in the 1920s. Use of fireworks and pyrotechnics products is a traditional part of merry making,” said Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz in Bulacan.

As the main proponent of the forgotten pyrotechnics villages, Cruz said the government should instead focus on the modernization of the industry into a safe and technically viable business.

“The provincial government of Bulacan should take the lead by inviting all the stakeholders to come up with long lasting solutions for the pyrotechnics industry,” Cruz said.

Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad also said the DOH should help improve the industry instead of banning it.

“Regulate and inform instead of total ban, which is radical and unfair,” Natividad said.

Vimmie Erese, president of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PPMDAI), said they have become the whipping boy of Ona as New Year draws near.

“Why is it we always get the blame? There is the law (Republic Act 7183 regulating the firecracker industry) that should be fully implemented,” Erese said.

Celso Cruz, former president of the PPMDAI, said the industry should continue.

Cruz earlier said the industry survived since it started in the late 1800s in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

He added the Bulacan pyrotechnics industry survived even during the martial law years from the early 70s to the mid-80s.

Local officials agreed that a total ban on firecrackers as proposed by Ona is a good move but it will not totally stop the firecracker industry.

Provincial board members Michael Fermin and Ernesto Sulit, along with Norzagaray Vice Mayor Arthur Legazpi, urged the full implementation of the law to regulate the industry. – Paolo Romero