THERE was a time when Christmas Eve was truly a silent night—when families could gather in their homes in peace and quiet, and when idiots had not yet discovered that the holiday could be used as an excuse to set off firecrackers.
Sadly, those days are gone, and as we hurtle toward the New Year, the number of people injured in firecracker explosions has reached 47—with 25 new cases as of the morning of Dec. 26.
Those figures come from Health Department reports from 50 hospitals across the country, in a surveillance effort that runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5, 2017.
Most of the victims—42 of 47—were male, and children aged 15 and below accounted for 72 percent of the injuries.
Metro Manila had 25 of the cases, followed by Region 6 with six cases and Regions 1 and 4A with five cases each.
Experience and common sense tell us that the number of firecracker-related injuries is bound to rise sharply as the revelry reaches a fever pitch on New Year’s Eve.
In the runup to 2016, the number of fireworks-related injuries climbed to 760 over a 13-day period that started in December 2015.
Again, most of the cases—or 56 percent—were in Metro Manila.
Against this backdrop, it is refreshing to see that some cities have taken it upon themselves to ban the sale and use of firecrackers within their areas of jurisdiction.
In Muntinlupa, for example, an ordinance passed in December 2014 makes it unlawful for any person or business establishment to manufacture, sell or offer for sale, distribute, possess or use any firecrackers or pyrotechnic device within the city.
Cotabato City, too, has outlawed the use of firecrackers for New Year and Eid’l Fit’r celebrations.
Beyond these local efforts, however, it is high time Congress moved to impose a total ban on firecrackers nationwide, to minimize senseless injuries.
We are encouraged that Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has voiced his support for proposals to impose such a ban, given the huge amount of public funds used to treat these injuries every year.
A representative of Davao del Norte, Alvarez notes that a firecracker ban in Davao City pushed by Duterte when he was still mayor has proved effective.
Of course, a total nationwide ban would kill the firecracker industry and mean the loss of employment—but many of these jobs have proved unsafe and hazardous to workers anyway.
The passage of a law in 1992 to make the industry safer has failed to stop deadly accidents from occurring.
In November, an explosion at a fireworks factory in Sta. Maria, Bulacan killed five people, including two children and injured 30 others. In October, another firecracker factory in Bocaue exploded, killing two people and injuring 20 others.
Faced with no choice, investors in the fireworks industry would have to find safer, and more productive use of their capital—and workers who are laid off could receive retraining for jobs in other industries.
A total nationwide ban on the use and sale of firecrackers would also make it pointless for criminal syndicates to smuggle in imported pyrotechnics, which have been killing off the local industry anyway.
Mr. Duterte ran for President on the promise of change. A nationwide ban on firecrackers would be one welcome change indeed.