LOCAL governments and the public in general deserve a pat on the back for the lower firecracker-related injuries, firecracker-connected fire incidents, and less pollution during the recent New Year celebrations. In years past, we were constantly saddened and dismayed by the bodily injuries inflicted by firecrackers and fireworks, especially on young victims.
One injury is one too many and our society has to do more to discontinue the bloody and polluting tradition of ringing in the New Year with firecrackers and fireworks, legal or not.
As there is no such thing as non-dangerous and non-toxic firecrackers and fireworks, our society has to make difficult decisions in order to protect public health and the environment, including phasing out the production of firecrackers and fireworks and finding alternative livelihoods for the affected sector. To achieve zero injury and zero pollution during the New Year revelry, we need to seriously look at banning firecrackers and fireworks altogether.
This year, the very significant decline in firecracker injuries and the obvious improvement in environmental quality should motivate and push the national and local authorities into expanding the firecracker ban and making it permanent.
We hope President Duterte will keep his word and impose a national ban on firecrackers, which we hope will replicate Davao City’s successful ban on firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices since 2001. A safer, non-toxic New Year‘s Eve revelry is for the common good, and is not impossible to achieve.
One overlooked matter vis-à-vis firecrackers are the residual wastes they generate – hazardous and non-recyclable discards which are often left lying on the streets after the revelry. They are a threat to public health and the environment if not properly sorted out and managed in a manner that will not contaminate the surroundings, particularly the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our sources of food, including the rivers and the oceans.
As we mark January as Zero Waste Month, we appeal to national and local authorities, factories, commercial establishments and the general public to take action to proactively prevent and reduce the generation of waste.
As per Proclamation No. 760, every January is observed as Zero Waste Month “to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.” Let’s do so in the context of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act: Littering, throwing, dumping of waste matters in public places such as roads, sidewalks, canals, esteros or parks, and establishment, or causing or permitting the same is prohibited and punishable.
