CEBU, Philippines — The police will not hesitate to arrest those found selling and using firecrackers during the New Year celebration.
Chief Insp. Wilbert Parilla, head of operations of the Cebu City Police Office, said more personnel will be deployed in areas with higher risk of violent outbursts and firecracker incidents.
“Karong New Year, mas atoa pa ni gipadaghan atong mga personnel nga gigamit nato for security, and we iron out sa mga kuwang nato pag December. It means nakita nato naa pa gihapon nagpabuto and wala mabadlong… sa pagdakop sa mga nagpabuto and namaligya (This New Year, we’re fielding more personnel for security, as we iron out loopholes in deployment strategies this December. We saw that there are still people who use firecrackers… we will arrest those who use and sell firecrackers,” Parilla said.
He said station commanders are under instructions to enforce Republic Act 7183 strictly.
RA 7183 is the act that regulates the sale of firecrackers. It penalizes those found selling banned firecrackers to six months and up to a year of jail time plus a fine of P20,000 to P30,000, or both.
“Sa mga nagbaligya gihapon og pabuto, sige gihapon atong pagpanakop, especially katong illegal nga pagbaligya sa pabuto. Ang mga taw sad, kung pwede, di na lang mugamit kay aron iwas disgrasya, kay pwede man sugatona ng bag-ong tuig nga dili magpabuto (We will arrest especially those who sell firecrackers illegally. If possible, for safety, don’t use firecrackers because we can greet the New Year without lighting one,” Parilla added.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself urged Cebu City residents to avoid firecrackers if only to prevent fire incidents. The designated area for fireworks display in the city is the South Road Properties.
Barangay Duljo-Fatima, for one, is still reeling from a fire that razed 388 houses and left 2,700 homeless on Christmas Day.
“So I will ask the different sitios, barangay tanods to please restrain the use of firecrackers. It only takes one and the whole barangay can go down up to flames. We have the worst fire this year, in Duljo… the year is not yet over. God forbid,” Osmeña said.
In 2017, at least 450 families were left homeless shortly after greeting the New Year when a fire hit densely populated areas in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City. Authorities said the fire may have been triggered by firecrackers.
“Let’s hope for a very peaceful new year, I’ll be happy if we do not have any such incident or this is will be one of my worst nightmare,” Osmeña said.
Security
Meanwhile, as it continues to monitor movements of communist rebels, the provincial police will continue to keep an eye on places that have a history of attacks like the towns of Dumanjug, Tabuelan, Carmen, Tuburan, and Sibonga.
“Dili lang ang CPP NPA ang challenge. Dili ta kampante sa atong situation because at any rate wala ta kahibalo kanus-a. (The challenge is not only the CPP NPA. We cannot be complacent because we don’t know what an attack may occur). Despite ana, we are really doing our best to secure the province away from any attack. The threat is there and we will really prepare for the attack,” said Cebu Provincial Police Office chief of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch Supt. Janet Rafter.
“Paninguha, nga peaceful ang New Year, not just New Year, but the whole year round, with coordination from different law enforcement agencies (We will do our best that the New Year celebration and the rest of the year will be peaceful, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies),” she said.
Hopes
Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella hopes that the upcoming national and local elections will be peaceful.
“Being an election year, I hope and pray that the forthcoming 2019 election will be a peaceful election so that the right of suffrage (that is being constrained) under the Constitution will be fully and efficiently exercised by our people,” Labella said.
Councilor Sisinio Andales, for his part, hopes that the pressing issues in the country will be addressed properly.
"Wishing everybody, in 2019, be better economically and spiritually. No more extrajudicial killings, no more corruption in the government. More infrastructures, proper solution to traffic problems, better drainage system, total stoppage of drug problem, and better employment solution," he said. (FREEMAN)