THE Davao City Fire District warns business establishments from using unregistered or illegal electrical Christmas decorations that may be fire hazards, said concurrent chief intelligence and investigation section SF04 Ramil Gillado.
Gillado said on Friday, October 21 that the Davao City Fire District conducts monitoring and often ask business establishments to take down seasonal decoration, such as Christmas lights, if found to be hazardous.
“Ang atong ginabuhat, atong gina-advice na i-abate o tanggalon (What we do is we advise them to take down the decorations). Tagaan nato og warning ang mga business establishment na nakita nato nag gamit or nag pose og imminent danger sa mga customer (We also give warnings to establishments that are using fake products and posing imminent danger to customers),” Gillado said during a radio interview.
He said the Davao City Fire District also conducts information and education campaigns for the general public regarding the safety and proper handling of Christmas lights and other decorations.
Fake or illegal decorations, such as those without a Philippine Standard (PS) marking or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers, should be avoided.
“Sugod pa lang sa pagpamalit sa Christmas lights, dapat naa na ta prevention na ginabuhat para dili ta mabiktima (Prevention should start immediately). Sa pagpalit pa lang daan, dapat atong siguraduhon nga ang taong napalit nipasa sa quality standards (Before we buy, we should make sure the products passed quality standards),” Gillado said.
Dolly Roque, chief of the Regional Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Trade and Industry in Davao Region, said products without PS or ICC stickers most likely did not undergo product testing.
The public should also be wary of the proper use of the decorations based on their kind and quality.
For example, the concurrent chief said indoor Christmas lights or decorations should not be used outside since they are not built to endure hot and wet weather conditions.
Although the BFP conducts monitoring, Gillado said they do not confiscate fake or unregistered decorations. Rather, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is directly in charge of handling the said products.
Last week, Roque said their office will intensify monitoring of Christmas and seasonal decorations being sold in various establishments in the coming months.
“In the next few weeks, all over the region, lahat ng (all of our) consumer protection personnel will really intensify or do more monitoring of Christmas light products,” she said. ICM