Meeting a demand

Near the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, fireworks erupted in certain parts of our neighborhood, with the unmistakable explosion of sawa or serpent dominating the cacophony and brilliant aerial fireworks lighting up the clear evening sky.

The length of the rapid-fire explosions made me conclude that it was a sawa rather than the much shorter “Judas belt” or sinturon ni Hudas.

Sawa is of course more expensive; at an upscale mall where fireworks are sold at the weekend tiangge or flea market, one coil of 3,000 rounds – about three meters long – is priced at more than P3,000.

Aerial fireworks are even more expensive. A box of a single-burst willow or rainfall display is even more expensive than the sawa. Roman candles cost from P150 to P250 each depending on the location of the stall and the brand.

You’re burning money when you light up fireworks. Yet they continue to sell in our country, even before Christmas Day. The aerial fireworks seem to become more spectacular every year, while manufacturers pack as much explosive power as they can into firecrackers short of using high explosives.

Even without the use of high explosives such as nitroglycerine, consumer fireworks can still contain flash powder way above legal limits. We have laws banning powerful firecrackers such as pla-pla (giant tilapia) and “Goodbye, Philippines.” Yet the banned firecrackers keep popping up every year, with modified names. The “Goodbye” series usually uses the names of personalities disappearing from the scene (like “Goodbye, Napoles”) so outgoing presidents are favorites. We’ve had “Goodbye, Gloria” and now there’s “Goodbye, Noynoy.”

Then there’s the notorious personalities series. Among the recent names: “Osama bin Laden” and “Ampatuan.” All the products bear the same characteristic: they pack enough explosive power to set off car alarms, tear off your fingers or squish your eyeballs.

But the illegal firecrackers’ charm, it seems, lies precisely in the danger of handling them – to the consternation of health (and fire) officials.

And where there’s demand, there’s always someone ready with the supply.

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A proposal has been kicked around for several years now to ban household use of fireworks. Local governments have tried to wean away people from household revelry by sponsoring fireworks shows in common areas.

Fireworks are banned in Davao while Muntinlupa recently followed with a modified ban. But it will probably take years before this trend becomes widespread. If the government can’t curb the proliferation of loose firearms, we shouldn’t be surprised that pla-pla, piccolo and “Crying Cow” are still around.

A fireworks ban can be legislated, but lawmakers may worry about voter backlash. Even city or town councilors who can pass local ordinances will worry about public sentiment. The ban is unthinkable for politicians in fireworks manufacturing centers particularly Bulacan.

In impoverished communities, greeting the New Year with a bang, even if only from a piccolo, is affordable fun. Among those who can afford expensive imported fireworks, it’s the traditional way of attracting good luck and driving away evil spirits in the coming year – and if they’re ready to burn a fortune for luck, they think it’s none of your business.

The poor communities, particularly in Metro Manila and other urban centers, are mostly densely populated and vote-rich. Meanwhile, those who spend a fortune annually to greet the New Year with a bang and brilliant lights may also be campaign donors of certain politicians. In many cases, local politicians themselves are among the top consumers of fireworks.

So anti-fireworks groups are struggling with their advocacy. But the government can tighten regulation of the industry by strictly enforcing an existing law, while industry players themselves must raise the quality of their products.

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This was what the United States did about four decades ago, when certain consumer fireworks commonly available were so powerful they could kill. In 1966, the US banned firecrackers such as the “cherry bomb,” the “M80” and the more powerful “quarter stick.” Milder versions of the items were later produced, complying with standards on the amount of flash powder that could be used.

There’s a group in the US that claims widespread public support for the Americans’ right to purchase and use legal fireworks. The group provides some guidance on fireworks safety at every step, from manufacture to distribution and transport, to purchase, storage and use.

The group argues that fireworks have a better safety record than cars, bicycles and football. Advocates also gripe that restrictions on fireworks retard innovation in rocketry, and discourage hobbyists who want to design their own model rockets and fireworks.

Their favorite example is Homer Hickam Jr., who in high school built rockets as a hobby together with other boys. Their entry won medals in propulsion at the 1960 National Science Fair.

Hickam, who fought in Vietnam, later worked as a space engineer at NASA. He inspired the acclaimed 1999 movie “October Sky” starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Our fireworks manufacturers aren’t into missile technology. Most are barely innovating or going beyond tried and tested designs for “baby rocket” and bamboo cannons.

If demand for fireworks remains high, the industry must invest more in innovation to compete with the flood of safer, top-quality imports. At the mall where I saw the sawa on sale, most of the specialty fireworks were made in China or Taiwan.

It remains a strong market, rather high end, which is usually impervious to economic shocks – you can see that there are Pinoys willing to throw away P3,000 for a thrill that lasts less than five minutes. But the consumers want better, safer products. Our manufacturers must try to meet the demand.