FIRECRACKER explosion is a thing of the past in Davao City yet people in this lively metropolis celebrate Christmas with the kind of spirit they have been displaying before.

Never mind the absence of firecrackers and other forms of pyrotechnics, Dabawenyos are spending the holiday season with so much roar and fanfare.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

Davao City Councilor Peter T. Laviña, one of the local lawmakers who supported the firecracker ban when Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte asked the City Council to pass the ordinance in 2001, said the people in Davao have learned to accept the policy imposed by the City Government and have greatly gained from the measure.

"People have now adjusted to the ban. People are saving precious pesos and spending the same to other needs instead of the usual practice to practically burn their money," Laviña told Sun.Star Davao.

Laviña observed that since the ban was imposed, more people are trooping to the church to attend midnight masses to celebrate Christmas Eve or welcome the New Year, while others are organizing house or community parties.

"Many have also opted to join revelries at hotels, especially during New Year countdown concerts and parties," Laviña said.

People are indeed enjoying their time during the holiday season as City Hall also organized a series of activities and competitions like Christmas dance and caroling contest to give added excitement among the Dabawenyos.

City Administrator Wendel Avisado said the local government allocated P2.5 million just for this program alone held every year called Pahalipay ni Mayor sa Pasko, a program created in 2003.

This program was aimed to bring cheer to the people of Davao by ensuring that every family can celebrate a decent Christmas by having enough food to eat and enjoy activities that develop their self-worth and inspire them to become better citizens.

Traders specially the small ones also do not care if they cannot sell firecrackers anymore for they can always sell other products like lanterns.

Ricky Lucernas, 36, and resident of Purok 28, Maa, Davao City has been selling lanterns along Tiongko Avenue beside of Bangko Sentral in Davao City for the past years now and he isn't complaining.

"I hire my neighbors specially the housewives and pay them just for wrapping lanterns. For this, they earn additional income," said Lucernas, a construction worker who has four kids.

Lucernas said he starts selling lanters as early as October each year.

"We sell our product to as far as Davao del Sur where my parents are manning the business there. We are a family skilled in the lantern making industry. I developed the skill from my elder brother who like me is also a construction worker," Lucernas said in the vernacular.

"We supply most of the lanterns being sold along the city streets. Most, if not all the lanterns you see at the Apo View Hotel are my work. Congressman Way Kurat Zamora also bought lanterns from me," said Lucernas, whose lanterns are pegged at P15 for the small ones and P500 for the big and special ones.

When Duterte insisted on the policy and the local lawmaking body passed the measure seven years ago, it seemed impossible at first to impose such guideline.

Not for the people of Davao City, who learned to embrace such policy so easily, knowing the significance of such measure.

"Tradition may be hard to change but the people of Davao have shown the way that life without firecrackers during the holidays is just fine," said Laviña.

"In fact, it has even become a tourist draw. People of Davao who prefer quiet and peaceful Christmas and New Year spend their holidays here. And all of them are thankful to the drive of Mayor Rody Duterte," he added.

The firecracker ban is indeed noble for it save lives and limbs, practically registering zero-casualty in Davao during the yuletide season for years now.

"I believe we should go back to basics. The most important things during the holidays are God, Jesus Christ, family and community. Not really firecrackers," Laviña said. (With a report from SDR)

For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga.

For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here.

(December 20, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.