Senate bill seeks to regulate pyrotechnics industry

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago made a last-minute appeal for revelers to refrain from firing guns during New Year’s Eve.

Santiago, a licensed gun holder herself, also proposed the Weapon Accident Prevention Act under Senate Bill 1744, which seeks stricter implementation of laws regarding the storage of weapons to prevent firearm-related accidents.

“Placing weapons within reach or easy access of other people, especially of children, is likewise irresponsible because it increases the incidence of injury not only to the one who got hold of the weapon, but also to the people around him,” Santiago said.

She said giving people access to weapons makes it easier for them to commit crimes.

Santiago proposed that gun owners should put their weapons under lock and key, and those who leave their loaded firearms accessible to other people should be penalized up to six months in prison and pay a P50,000 fine.

A higher penalty may be imposed if another person used the negligently stored weapon, and if that use resulted in injury or death, she said.

Santiago also sought the stricter implementation of the laws regulating the country’s pyrotechnic industry and a review of the guidelines in the manufacture, sale, possession, use, and disposal of fireworks and firecrackers.

“The alarming number of injuries and damage to property related to firecrackers and fireworks every year necessitates the regulation of the pyrotechnic industry,” Santiago said.

Santiago earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 266 calling for stricter regulation of the chemical components of pyrotechnics.

Health authorities, on the other hand, urged the public to immediately seek medical help in case of firecracker injuries.

Dr. Eric Tayag, director of Department of Health (DOH) National Epidemiology Center (NEC), warned that even minor burns or wounds should not be ignored since these could develop tetanus and become fatal.

Tayag said burns or wounds should be cleansed with running water and then treated by doctors.

“But we received reports that many doctors are giving firecracker patients only one shot against tetanus. It should be two – one is the anti-tetanus serum and the other is the tetanus toxoid. These two shots will ensure the safety of patients,” Tayag stressed.

He said the serum takes effect immediately while the tetanus toxoid takes effect in three weeks, the incubation period of infection.

The period during which tetanus sets in depends on the gravity of the burns or wounds.

Tayag noted that by giving the two shots, a patient is better protected against tetanus, a serious illness caused by bacteria that lives in soil, saliva, dust and manure. The bacteria usually enter the body through a cut.

The infection causes painful tightening of the muscles, usually all over the body. It can lead to lockjaw that will eventually cause the patient to die of suffocation.

The muscles used to breathe can also develop spasm, causing a lack of oxygen to the brain and other organs, leading to death.

From Dec. 22 to 30, the NEC had registered a total of 132 firecracker injuries, three stray bullet injuries and one watusi poisoning.

Of the 132 fireworks-related cases, six percent have suffered amputations while 24 percent sustained eye injuries.

NEC records showed that 45 of the 132 cases were caused by piccolo, followed by Five Star firecrackers with 16 cases; homemade firecrackers with 11 cases; luces with nine cases and kwitis with five cases.

Tayag said two more cases of stray bullet injuries, including a nine-year-old girl from Bulacan, were reported yesterday.

Tayag said the police were still verifying if the two incidents were caused by stray bullets or were crime-related.

“So far, our official record for stray bullet injuries is three. When the police confirm these two new cases as stray bullet related, then it will become five,” he said.

One of the two cases involved a nine-year-old girl who was hit by a bullet on the right cheek while asleep inside their house in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan early yesterday.

The bullet, which passed through the roof of their house, lodged in her upper jaw. Tayag said the victim is awaiting operation at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila.

The other victim was brought to the Tondo Medical Hospital, he said.

Tayag joined the appeal for the public not to fire their guns indiscriminately during the New Year revelry.

Police authorities, on the other hand, made last-ditch efforts to prevent the selling of illegal firecrackers in Metro Manila during the last few days of the year.

The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil said they conducted 80 separate operations in the crackdown against illegal firecrackers.

“We will continue our intensified campaign against illegal firecrackers to help minimize firecracker-related injuries,” Bataoil said.

Bataoil said even the homemade cannon or “boga,” fashioned out of PVC pipes, is not spared from the crackdown.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno earlier called on local chief executives nationwide to help raise public awareness over the dangers of using boga during the holiday festivities.

Puno noted several cases of injuries were attributed to the use of boga in last year’s revelry.

Boga is a popular bazooka-like device that uses denatured alcohol to produce a booming sound.

It became popular among revelers as a cheaper alternative to expensive firecrackers.

Bataoil added the NCRPO had intensified the campaign against illegal firecrackers starting Dec. 16 until New Year’s Eve following reports of numerous injuries attributed to illegal pyrotechnics.

Bataoil said there were 84 firecracker-related injuries in Metro Manila as of yesterday. –-Christina Mendez with Sheila Crisostomo, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Philippine Star