HEALTH officials are urging the Baguio City Council to enact an ordinance that will totally ban the use of firecrackers in the summer capital.
Doctor Donnabel Tubera of the Baguio City Health Services Office and lead campaigner on “Iwas Paputok” said despite the health department’s campaign for a zero case of firecracker-related injuries, the city and the region still recorded 22 firecracker-related injuries from December 2019 to January 5, 2020.
Tubera said the city health department will inform and encourage the city council to pass a separate ordinance that will require the ban on the use of firecrackers.
“This is not an amendment but a separate ordinance because the previous ordinance was about the ban on selling and manufacture with no ban on use, so what we would like to advocate is the ban on individual use of firecrackers. We defined the individual use in the proposed ordinance as a person not allowed to use firecrackers at a specific time and place,” Tubera said.
Based on the report from the Department of Health Cordillera (DOH–CAR), Abra recorded the highest with nine injuries, followed by Kalinga and Mountain Province with four each with Baguio recording three and Benguet two.
Apayao and Ifugao recorded zero firework related injury.
“The contents of the proposed ordinance still allows the staging of a community fireworks display with the necessary permits coming from the Bureau of Fire and the PNP stating what time it will be done having the necessary fire trucks during the staging of a fireworks display, aside from a proposed P5,000 maximum fine for the said penalty. This will be forwarded to the committee chairman on health and will be known as the Iwas Paputok Ordinance,” Tubera said.