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[av_heading heading=’NO ‘CRACKER BAN BUT… Only two areas for firecracker vendors’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The city government is not banning the sale of firecrackers but has restricted their sale in only two areas.
Their “unregulated presence anywhere may pose danger to the safety and health of the general public and the tranquility of society,” explained Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
Vendors can only sell firecrackers on the corner of Circumferential Road 1 and Jocson Street, Arevalo district and the corner of Circumferential Road 1 and Iloilo East Coast-Capiz highway in the vicinity of Ondoy’s Sugbahan in Barangay Buhang, Jaro district.
In Executive Order (EO) No. 151-2017 issued on Dec. 22, Espinosa stressed he found no reason to deviate from the recommendation of the city’s fire marshal, Chief Inspector Bartolome Beliran, on where vendors should sell firecrackers.
Beliran found the two areas safe because these were not densely populated.
The EO also set the measurements of firecracker stalls, which should at least be a meter apart from one another.
The maximum floor area for each stall should be eight square meters each must have “double walling” of Hardiflex plywood (inner side) and tin/galvanized iron sheet (outer side).
The roof must also be galvanized iron.
Espinosa said the EO takes effect immediately and shall remain valid until Dec. 31, 2017.
Firecracker vendors are also required to meet the following requirements:
* Each stall must have “No Testing” and “No Smoking” tarpaulin signs bearing the telephone numbers of the Bureau of Fire Protection.
* Cooking is prohibited inside firecracker stalls.
* All displayed firecrackers/fireworks must have plastic cover.
* Only LED lights are allowed in the stalls.
* Electrical outlets are prohibited.
* Each stall must have at least one fire extinguisher.
In June 20 this year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 28 limiting the use of firecrackers in the country. It specifically confined the use of firecrackers to community fireworks display.
“(There) continues to be a substantial number of firecracker-related injuries, even casualties, every year, some involving bystanders,” part of the EO read.
Due to firecracker-related injuries and deaths, “the promulgation of stricter national standards, rules and regulations is warranted,” it stressed.
According to the EO, a community fireworks display must be “conducted under the supervision of a trained person duly licensed by the Philippine National Police.”
It should also be “allowed by the municipality/city concerned through a permit specifying the date and time of fireworks display and the specific area in which the display will be conducted, in conformity with national standards, rules and regulations.”
Mayor Espinosa, however, said he was not keen on holding a community fireworks display to welcome the New Year.
Aside from it being expensive, by tradition Filipinos have to be in their homes by midnight to welcome the New Year, he explained.
During the 2017 New Year revelry across the nation, DOH recorded a total of 630 fireworks-related injuries but no deaths.
This number was 292 cases or 32 percent lower than 2016’s count. This also beat the country’s record-low of 720 cases in 2008.
Among the culprits were prohibited firecrackers such as piccolo and five-star, which caused 192 injuries (31 percent), and 32 cases (5 percent), respectively.
Last year, the Iloilo City government designated several firecracker zones for vendors to sell in the districts of Arevalo, La Paz, Jaro, Molo, Mandurriao, and City Proper.
In the City Proper, firecracker stalls were on Muelle Loney Street facing the Iloilo River – from the entrance of the former Iloilo-Bacolod Ferry Terminal – with a distance of approximately 80 meters more or less.
In Arevalo, these were inside the district plaza, between Sta. Felomina Gym and Arevalo church, across the Arevalo police station going to the health center.
In La Paz, firecracker stalls were inside the public plaza, near the left wing and the right wing of the grandstand, across the La Paz Fire Substation.
In Jaro, firecracker stalls were inside the plaza, in front of E. Lopez Street, from across Ted’s La Paz Batchoy to Andok’s restaurant; and the roadside of the Iloilo Circumferential Road 1 in Barangay Buhang (covering a distance of 100 meters).
In Molo, firecracker stalls were inside the public plaza, too, occupying some 39 meters from Locsin Street to Jocson Street, from across the Molo Fire Substation and the public market.
In Mandurriao, the stalls were at the plaza’s activity area adjacent to the basketball court and children’s playground, and across the church./PN
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