Sunday, December 30, 2007 Firecrackers banned from Tabunok
IN preparation for the New Year revelry, Talisay City authorities have created a composite team that will strictly prohibit the selling of firecrackers outside the exclusive vending area in Barangay Lagtang.
Councilor Arturo Bas, city council committee peace and order chairman, yesterday warned they will “employ the full force of the law” against those who insist on displaying their wares in Barangay Tabunok and other public areas.
Tabunok, the city’s central business district, is considered an ideal site for enterprising traders selling firecrackers. But this will pose danger to the public. Neighboring brgy.
Bas said personnel from the fire and traffic divisions will back the local police in closely monitoring the presence of illegal vendors outside the designated firecrackers zone in Lagtang, Tabunok’s neighboring village.
Authorities advised the public to solely buy firecrackers at the designated vending area, an open space near the unfinished market-cum-terminal project in Lagtang.
The combined anti-illegal firecrackers campaign was proven when a traffic police team, led by SPO1 Glenn Burlas, arrested 49-year-old Virgilio Cabigon last Dec. 24.
The traffic team was making rounds in the city when they spotted Cabigon displaying assorted firecrackers along the road in Sitio Dauis, Barangay San Roque around 3:45 p.m.
“The arrest (of Cabigon) serves as a warning to vendors who insist to sell their goods outside the firecrackers zone,” Bas said.
For his part, Talisay City Fire Chief Felipe Canillas said the designation of a special vending area is to ensure the safety of the buying public from accidental blasts, and other firecracker-related blazes and injuries.
Department store
Canillas cited the Christmas Day fire that swept through a department store and killed more than 20 shoppers in Ormoc City last year.
Police blamed the fire on illegally sold firecrackers that reportedly triggered the blaze near the entrance door of the Unitop General Merchandising Store.
Canillas also reminded the vendors to secure first the clearances from the PNP’s Firearms, Explosives, Security Agencies and Guards Supervision Section, local police and fire offices.
He added that the displayed pyrotechnics must be limited to 25 kilograms only with the tables set at least six meters distance from each other. (GC)
