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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Scare campaign eases firecracker injuries: official
MANILA -- The Philippine health secretary said Tuesday that firecracker injuries dropped considerably during the recent New Year's celebrations, thanks to a scare campaign that included bloody images of revelry gone wrong.
The number of Filipinos injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire from December 21 to January 1 dropped by nearly half to 439 compared to last year, and there were no immediate reports of deaths, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
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It was the lowest number of injures in eight years, he said.
"Filipinos chose to be safer this year," Duque said at a news conference, which he traditionally holds on January 1 to announce the gory details of firecracker blast injuries and deaths.
"The effective strategy was showing the public the incontrovertible horror of losing their limbs and possibly their lives," Duque said.
Last week, Duque showed the media a father and son who lost their arms to a powerful firecracker blast last year in Manila. He also showed a long surgical saw, pliers, and a syringe with a five-inch (12.7-centimeter) needle - the tools used to amputate the limbs of firecracker blast victims.
Local TV networks repeatedly showed gory scenes from last year's New Year's Eve celebrations, including blood-splattered victims yelling in pain in hospital emergency rooms as doctors attended to their wounds.
Organized fireworks displays in public parks and near shopping centers and the hard economic times also helped discourage many Filipinos from setting off firecrackers in their neighborhoods, officials said.
Despite the government campaign, Manila and other cities resembled war zones late Monday as the New Year approached. The staccato of powerful firecracker blasts could be heard booming everywhere, and neighborhoods and commercial districts were shrouded in dark-gray smoke. Ambulance sirens later wailed as the wounded were brought to hospitals.
However, the explosions were over in less than an hour - markedly shorter than in years past - and a drizzle later helped clear the pungent firecracker smoke from Manila.
Duque said more than half of this year's 439 injuries happened on New Year's Eve, and seven were caused by celebratory gunfire - which is banned by police. About 30 percent of those injured by firecrackers were children under 10 years old, he said.
Duque said he would ask Congress to permanently ban firecrackers in neighborhoods. But he acknowledged that it would be difficult to stop the deeply ingrained tradition, partly because thousands of poor Filipinos depend on the legal and underground firecracker industry for a living.
Filipinos believe that noisy New Year's celebrations largely influenced by Chinese tradition, drive away evil and misfortune. (AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (January 2, 2008 issue)
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