Members of the Southern Police District prepare to destroy seized firecrackers at their headquarters in Taguig City. MANNY MARCELO
MANILA, Philippines – A 10-year-old boy from Cabanatuan City who threw collected gunpowder into flames inside a steel drum is the first casualty of firecracker-related accidents during New Year’s Eve, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said the boy was declared dead on arrival at the Dr. Paulino Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in the city because of “massive injuries” and broken bones.
Reports showed that the boy had collected gunpowder from the debris of fireworks in a can, which he threw into a burning steel drum, causing an explosion.
Because of the incident, Tayag underscored the need to review proposals for a total ban on the use of firecrackers at home during the New Year revelry.
This year, the DOH had asked barangay and local government leaders to organize public fireworks displays to discourage the indiscriminate use of firecrackers.
Tayag said the proposals on the ban will be discussed by the DOH, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Department of Education.
The number of firecracker and stray bullet-related injuries rose by 263 cases yesterday as reports from the DOH’s 50 sentinel hospitals nationwide continued to come in.
Based on the 6 a.m. surveillance report of the DOH’s “Aksyon: Paputok Injury Reduction” program yesterday, 739 revelers sustained injuries and burns – up from the 476 cases recorded as of 6 a.m. on Jan. 1.
The report said that the number is seven percent lower (55 cases) than the number of cases recorded in the same period last year and four percent (31 cases) lower than the average from 2006-2010.
Of the 739 cases, 712 were fireworks-related, 22 were caused by stray bullets, while five were caused by poisoning from firecracker ingestion. Sixty percent (440 cases) were recorded in Metro Manila. Of the victims, 391 (54.9 percent) were active users of firecrackers.
Of the total number of fireworks-related injuries, 544 (76 percent) sustained burns without need for amputation, 51 (seven percent) sustained burns with need for amputation and 114 (16 percent) suffered eye injuries.
At the government-owned Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City, nine cases of eye injuries were recorded, including that of a 58-year-old man who lost his right eye. A 10-year-old boy had a hand amputated from the wrist in the same hospital because of firecracker explosion.
Tales of woe
A drunken security guard in General Santos City lost his teeth on New Year’s Eve when a firecracker exploded inside his mouth.
Alberto Sago, 21, is now confined at a hospital. He and his companions in Barangay Batomelo were feasting on biko, a native delicacy made of glutinous rice when he boasted to his friends that he could spit out the firecracker before it could go off. The firecracker, however, got stuck in his mouth.
Only 12 people were injured by firecrackers in Cotabato City, according to police and health officials.
Maguindanao’s provincial health chief, Hadji Tahir Sulaik, attributed the minimal number of injuries to the support of local officials to the province-wide anti-firecracker campaign.
He, however, said a soldier in Datu Piang, Maguindanao was slightly wounded by a stray bullet fired from a distance on New Year’s Eve.
The victim, Cpl. Randy Palagdao of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion, is now being treated at a hospital.
Police investigators are also establishing the identity of the person responsible for the stray bullet that killed seven-year-old Angelica de la Cruz of Binondo, Manila.
The victim was declared dead on arrival at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Hospital because of a bullet wound in the neck.
Police have filed criminal charges against 10 people – including two policemen – who fired their guns during the 10-day holiday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome clarified that only one person – Benedicto Salamatin of Laguna – fired his gun on New Year’s Day at around 3:30 a.m., while nine others fired their firearms on separate occasions from Dec. 21 to Jan. 1.
Bartolome said Salamatin was arrested and his 9-mm unlicensed firearm was confiscated. He was subjected to inquest for illegal possession of firearms and illegal discharge of firearms.
The others charged were: PO2 Fulgencio Sideco of the
Manila police; PO2 Efren Dimaiwat of Training Service; Army Cpl. Reynolds Reyes; security guard Noel Briones in Region 7; Edgar Sedino in Region 10; and four others still unidentified. Bartolome said the suspects have been subjected to paraffin tests to support the charges against them. He said their names will be revealed once it is determined that they had violated the ban.
The PNP crime laboratory uses the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) in which the slugs are compared to the ballistics records of licensed firearms on file at the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division.
He said that despite cases of indiscriminate firing, the New Year revelry this year was generally more peaceful and safer compared to that of the previous year. - With Cecile Suerte Felipe, John Unson, Nestor Etolle, Eva Visperas
By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
