One firecracker victim is one too many
One firecracker victim is one too many
Updated 05:15am (Mla time) Jan 03, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A10 of the January 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AS this column predicted last Dec. 29, a strip of firecracker stalls in Bocaue, Bulacan, caught fire when sparks ignited a stack of firecrackers, killing seven persons. Almost every year, houses-usually converted into firecracker factories-explode and catch fire because of carelessness. Always, there are casualties. This time, it is a row of roadside stalls selling pyrotechnic products.
And yet, government authorities-Malacañang, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the police as well as the provincial and municipal governments-do nothing to prevent a repetition of the tragedies. The Friday fire was the seventh involving firecracker factories and stalls in Bulacan this year. Only last September, a firecracker factory exploded in Sta. Maria town, killing two workers.
Obviously, it is imperative that we adopt stricter rules and monitor more closely the manufacture, quality and storage of pyrotechnic products. So why are government agencies not doing these? Some officials could be liable for multiple homicide through negligence. People keep dying in firecracker incidents so regularly it is almost as if this is the administration's way of controlling population. Stop the population explosion with firecracker explosions? Ha, ha!
For sure, the government has rules on the manufacture of pyrotechnics to make them safe, but nobody pays attention to them, including the public officials and employees who are supposed to enforce them. For example, no firecracker is supposed to have more than 0.2 gm of explosive. But those firecrackers that blasted scores of limbs last New Year's Eve obviously have much more than that. What were the government inspectors of firecracker factories doing?
Obviously, too, the firecracker factories in Bulacan and elsewhere are unsafe. So is the manufacturing process. Else, why do they keep blowing up?
Also obviously, the storing and selling of the products are faulty. Else, why do houses and stalls where they are kept explode?
The usual alibi is that the powerful firecrackers come from illegal manufacturers. A convenient excuse. But it is no secret that even licensed manufacturers are making the illegal firecrackers because they think customers want more powerful firecrackers. For example, the product that started last Friday's fire was a "bomb shell." As the name implies, it was a powerful one, with more than 0.2 gm of explosive, and therefore illegal.
These powerful (pla-pla, whistle-bomb, thunder, etc.) and illegal explosives are being sold openly, in plain view of policemen. But do the cops stop them? Are you kidding?
Sometimes, the police conduct well-publicized raids and seizures of illegal firecrackers, but more often than not, the policemen themselves sell the seized firecrackers and keep the proceeds.
And let's not kid ourselves. Some manufactures, licensed and unlicensed, bribe policemen and government inspectors-perhaps including higher officials-to look the other way.
Under the principle of command responsibility, mayors, governors, the interior secretary and police officers may be held liable for criminal negligence everytime somebody dies in an incident involving firecrackers.
An aftermath of a firecracker accident that can easily be prevented by inspectors is the incidence of tetanus. Tetanus is almost always a fatal disease. Victims of firecracker explosions get into a very high risk of contracting tetanus.
The reason is that carabao or cattle manure is mixed with the explosive substances to make the firecracker more powerful. Manure is a fertile breeding ground for the tetanus bacillus. It enters the body through a break in the skin, such as a wound caused by a firecracker blast. Even a slight injury can lead to a tetanus infection.
Rules should prohibit the putting of animal dung in firecrackers. And it should be quite easy for inspectors to see if manure is being mixed with the explosives.
A "safe" firecracker doesn't just mean a "less powerful" firecracker. It also means a firecracker that does not carry a health-threatening disease.
* * *
The police and other government officials are now patting themselves on the back because there were less firecracker victims in the last New Year's Eve celebrations than there were in the previous years. I say, one firecracker victim is one too many. Nobody should be injured by a firecracker. If the government is doing its job, firecrackers should be so safe that even if one accidentally explodes them in his hand, it would not cause injury.
The cigarette-sized firecracker manufactured in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China won't injure you even if it explodes while you're holding it. But our triangulo, supposedly our smallest firecracker, can harm you if you don't throw it away quickly enough after lighting it. The fuse is so short and burns so quickly, premature explosions are very common.
Local manufacturers complain of the entry of imported firecrackers; it gives them competition. Instead of complaining, they should copy the imported ones. They are of better quality. And safe!
What's more, they would be able to sell more if our firecrackers are strung together like the imported ones. Instead of exploding the firecrackers one by one, Filipinos could light them by the pack so that they would explode like machine guns. With the string of firecrackers progressively longer, they would be able to sell more. And because they are safe, parents will allow their children to buy them. Hence, more sales.
Updated 05:15am (Mla time) Jan 03, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A10 of the January 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AS this column predicted last Dec. 29, a strip of firecracker stalls in Bocaue, Bulacan, caught fire when sparks ignited a stack of firecrackers, killing seven persons. Almost every year, houses-usually converted into firecracker factories-explode and catch fire because of carelessness. Always, there are casualties. This time, it is a row of roadside stalls selling pyrotechnic products.
And yet, government authorities-Malacañang, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the police as well as the provincial and municipal governments-do nothing to prevent a repetition of the tragedies. The Friday fire was the seventh involving firecracker factories and stalls in Bulacan this year. Only last September, a firecracker factory exploded in Sta. Maria town, killing two workers.
Obviously, it is imperative that we adopt stricter rules and monitor more closely the manufacture, quality and storage of pyrotechnic products. So why are government agencies not doing these? Some officials could be liable for multiple homicide through negligence. People keep dying in firecracker incidents so regularly it is almost as if this is the administration's way of controlling population. Stop the population explosion with firecracker explosions? Ha, ha!
For sure, the government has rules on the manufacture of pyrotechnics to make them safe, but nobody pays attention to them, including the public officials and employees who are supposed to enforce them. For example, no firecracker is supposed to have more than 0.2 gm of explosive. But those firecrackers that blasted scores of limbs last New Year's Eve obviously have much more than that. What were the government inspectors of firecracker factories doing?
Obviously, too, the firecracker factories in Bulacan and elsewhere are unsafe. So is the manufacturing process. Else, why do they keep blowing up?
Also obviously, the storing and selling of the products are faulty. Else, why do houses and stalls where they are kept explode?
The usual alibi is that the powerful firecrackers come from illegal manufacturers. A convenient excuse. But it is no secret that even licensed manufacturers are making the illegal firecrackers because they think customers want more powerful firecrackers. For example, the product that started last Friday's fire was a "bomb shell." As the name implies, it was a powerful one, with more than 0.2 gm of explosive, and therefore illegal.
These powerful (pla-pla, whistle-bomb, thunder, etc.) and illegal explosives are being sold openly, in plain view of policemen. But do the cops stop them? Are you kidding?
Sometimes, the police conduct well-publicized raids and seizures of illegal firecrackers, but more often than not, the policemen themselves sell the seized firecrackers and keep the proceeds.
And let's not kid ourselves. Some manufactures, licensed and unlicensed, bribe policemen and government inspectors-perhaps including higher officials-to look the other way.
Under the principle of command responsibility, mayors, governors, the interior secretary and police officers may be held liable for criminal negligence everytime somebody dies in an incident involving firecrackers.
An aftermath of a firecracker accident that can easily be prevented by inspectors is the incidence of tetanus. Tetanus is almost always a fatal disease. Victims of firecracker explosions get into a very high risk of contracting tetanus.
The reason is that carabao or cattle manure is mixed with the explosive substances to make the firecracker more powerful. Manure is a fertile breeding ground for the tetanus bacillus. It enters the body through a break in the skin, such as a wound caused by a firecracker blast. Even a slight injury can lead to a tetanus infection.
Rules should prohibit the putting of animal dung in firecrackers. And it should be quite easy for inspectors to see if manure is being mixed with the explosives.
A "safe" firecracker doesn't just mean a "less powerful" firecracker. It also means a firecracker that does not carry a health-threatening disease.
* * *
The police and other government officials are now patting themselves on the back because there were less firecracker victims in the last New Year's Eve celebrations than there were in the previous years. I say, one firecracker victim is one too many. Nobody should be injured by a firecracker. If the government is doing its job, firecrackers should be so safe that even if one accidentally explodes them in his hand, it would not cause injury.
The cigarette-sized firecracker manufactured in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China won't injure you even if it explodes while you're holding it. But our triangulo, supposedly our smallest firecracker, can harm you if you don't throw it away quickly enough after lighting it. The fuse is so short and burns so quickly, premature explosions are very common.
Local manufacturers complain of the entry of imported firecrackers; it gives them competition. Instead of complaining, they should copy the imported ones. They are of better quality. And safe!
What's more, they would be able to sell more if our firecrackers are strung together like the imported ones. Instead of exploding the firecrackers one by one, Filipinos could light them by the pack so that they would explode like machine guns. With the string of firecrackers progressively longer, they would be able to sell more. And because they are safe, parents will allow their children to buy them. Hence, more sales.
posted by Dante at 5:15 AM
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