MANILA - The Philippines’ Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag on Dec 31 pushed for a crackdown on vendors of illegal firecrackers after a four-year-old boy lost all the fingers on his right hand when he lighted a “dart bomb” inside his house in Central Luzon.

The boy, the youngest of eight people reported to be the latest among those injured due to firecrackers, also hurt his neck.

“The DOH (Department of Health) is seriously concerned how such deadly and illegal fireworks are able to reach the hands of young children,” Dr Tayag said in a news briefing at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila.

“We ask our police to crack down further on those selling illegal fireworks that find their way to destroy the hands and future of Filipino children.”

Fireworks displays

The DOH also appealed to local governments to organise community firework displays to discourage people from using firecrackers on their own during the New Year celebrations.

As at Dec 30, at least 115 people, mostly male, have been treated in hospital for injuries due to fireworks or firecrackers since the DOH started monitoring such incidents from Dec 21.

The number of cases, however, was expected to go up on New Year’s Eve.

Beyond Department of Health figures

Of the 115 cases, 67 cases, or 58 per cent, were due to illegal fireworks, the most common being the improvised cannon or boga, five-star, kwitis, piccolo, luces, pla-pla, whistle bomb, and unlabelled or imported firecrackers like the dart bomb. The boga, five-star, piccolo and pla-pla are illegal firecrackers.

Of the eight latest victims, all were male, including the four-year-old boy, while the oldest was 37 years old. Five of them were hurt due to illegal fireworks, while one was a “passive” victim who was watching someone else use firecrackers, according to the DOH.

In terms of region, of the 115 injuries related to fireworks or firecrackers reported so far, 44 cases, or 38 per cent, were from Metro Manila.

Next were Central Luzon and Ilocos with 13 cases each; followed by Soccsksargen with nine; Calabarzon (comprising Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with six; and Cagayan Valley, Bicol and Western Visayas with five cases each. Davao Region reported one case.

The figures, however, appear to be much higher than those forwarded to the DOH, with the authorities in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol and Cagayan Valley regions recording almost 100 cases of firecracker-related injuries.

Call to parents, guardians

In Central Luzon, there were at least 56 cases reported to the DOH from Dec 21 to 30, more than double the 23 recorded for the same period in 2022.

Pampanga counted 25 cases from only six in 2022, while the recent cases in Nueva Ecija reached 10; Bulacan, nine; Zambales, five; Tarlac, four; and Bataan, three.

The health authorities in Cagayan Valley recorded 18 firecracker-related injuries, six more compared with the same period in 2022. The DOH Region 2 report said that the last four additional cases were logged between Dec 29 and 30.

In Bicol, 12 cases were recorded from Dec 21 to 30 by the DOH Firework-Related Injury Surveillance, which was lower than the 20 logged between Dec 21, 2022, and Jan 5, 2023.

In Calabarzon, the DOH recorded seven fireworks-related injury cases from Dec 21 to 31.

In 2022, at least 307 cases were reported nationwide to the DOH, while there was one case of injury due to indiscriminate gun firing in Metro Manila.

Amid the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021, only 189 fireworks-related injuries were reported in the country.

During the news conference, PGH director Gerardo Legaspi urged parents and guardians to stop children from using fireworks or firecrackers.

In case of injuries, he said the best first aid while seeking treatment would be to thoroughly wash the affected area and then apply pressure to stop the bleeding. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK