Bulacan to draw up standards for fireworks

MALOLOS, Philippines – The provincial government of Bulacan will release next year a product standard for firecrackers similar to the one being imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado has asked the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to come up with a product standard so that local firecracker manufacturers can produce safer and better quality products.

Stakeholders in the firecracker and pyrotechnics industry have expressed concern regarding the apparent failure of some manufacturers to produce quality products.

They said most manufacturers could not afford to secure a Product Standard (PS) mark from DTI.

Lea Alapide, former president of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PPMDAI), said getting a PS mark from DTI is a financial burden for manufacturers. 

Alapide said if the provincial government, through its Pyrotechnic Regulatory Board, could issue product standard certification at a lower cost, perhaps the local manufacturers can afford to have their products certified.

PPMDAI chairman emeritus Celso Cruz said 90 percent of local firecracker manufacturers use potassium chlorate, which had been banned in other countries for over a hundred years.

Cruz said potassium chlorate is unstable when mixed with other chemicals and has the tendency to heat up and explode when wet.

Aside from potassium chlorate, traditional manufacturers use sulfur and aluminum in firecracker production.

Cruz said other countries have replaced potassium chlorate with potassium perchlorate, which remains safe even when mixed with other chemicals. Alvarado said he would ask suppliers to replace the unstable chemical used in firecracker production.

Ricojudge Echiverri, assistant secretary for external and legislative affairs of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), urged Bulacan firecracker manufacturers to come up with safer and better quality products so the 800 to 900 fireworks-related injuries during the New Year revelry will be reduced by 50 percent.

Echiverri said the DILG would push for a total firecracker ban should manufacturers fail to comply with the safety requirement.

Alvarado said he would task the DTI provincial office to oversee the implementation and maintenance of product standard for Bulacan-made firecrackers.

He said he will issue an executive order once the Sangguniang Panlalawigan comes out with the product standard and resolution correcting the chemical ingredients used in firecracker production.