MAYOR Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has ordered the Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) to strictly enforce Ordinance 431, otherwise known as the Firecracker Ban Ordinance.
It prohibits the use, sale, possession, distribution, storage, and manufacture of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices by any business establishments in the territorial jurisdiction of this city.
Salazar has ordered Senior Superintendent Thomas Joseph Martir, ZCPO director, to fully review the ordinance and ensure that cases – even if the affected or involved are minors - should be recorded in the police blotter “to send a very important message and to prevent other incidents.”
Salazar said the ban is enforced at all time, regardless of the occasion, and violators will be penalized.
She said that violators of the ordinance shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P1, 000 nor more than P5, 000 or imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court in addition to the cancellation of the license or permit issued by Philippine National Police and the business permit issued by the city, and the confiscation of inventories and stocks.
She said any person or business establishment found to be using, selling, possessing, distributing, storing, and manufacturing firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P3,000 for the second offense, and P5,000 for the third offense.
Salazar has appealed to parents and guardians to prohibit their children from using the banned items during the New Year revelry to prevent accidents.
The ZCPO reported that two victims of firecracker incidents were recorded by the ZCPO’s Police Stations 6 and 7 as of Thursday, December 27.
All the victims are minors. (SunStar Philippines)