’Cracker industry recovers in ’03

BALIUAG, Bulacan — The local pyrotechnics industry recovered in 2003 after experiencing a 20 percent decline in sales the previous year.

Celso Cruz, president of the Philippine Pyrotechnic Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PMDAI), told The STAR that the rise in the sale of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices was due to intensified police crackdown on banned firecrackers.

However, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. is urging Congress to pass a bill seeking a total ban on the manufacture and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices.

Lina noted that the number of victims of firecracker explosions kept rising each year. During the recent New Year revelry, authorities reported at least 35 people killed and 590 injured due to firecrackers. Health officials said the figures were 11 percent higher than in the previous year.

Lina stressed that Republic Act 7183 or the act regulating the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices failed to provide safety and order for the people.

He added that different types of firecrackers banned under RA 7183, such as the "big triangulo" and "super lolo," are still being manufactured, sold and used during the holiday season because an undermanned police fail to enforce the law.

Cruz, however, explained that this year manufacturers strictly complied with the 200-milligram explosive material per firecracker limit set by the Explosives and Ordnance Office of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Though this has made their products less powerful, Cruz said that the public was assured of safe products.

"We expected fewer injuries. As per information, casualties were minor, and some of them were children, who are not supposed to handle such devices. Iyong mga ibang naaksidente, matigas na lang talaga ang ulo at hindi sumusunod sa (Those who were injured did not follow) instructions printed on the labels of firecrackers," Cruz told The STAR.

Cruz said that Bulacan’s drive against illegal firecrackers was more realistic than the PNP’s "Iwas Paputok, Iwas Disgrasya" campaign, and has helped the industry regain its losses the previous year.

Bulacan, a major producer of firecrackers, is considered the fireworks capital of the country. The pyrotechnics industry is estimated to be a P450-million business.

"We are constantly trying to find ways to improve the manufacture of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices so that we would be able to provide the market with safer and higher quality products that could meet international standards so we may be able to compete globally," Cruz said.

Lina argued though that it is "humanly impossible that every firecracker will conform to the safety standards because there is an inherent danger in the manufacture and use of these devices."

He also urged Congress to pass a measure designating firecracker zones in every city and municipality where residents could watch pyrotechnic displays in welcoming the new year. — With Pia Lee-Brago