DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines — No one was hurt by firecracker explosion in Negros Oriental from December 19 to December 25, Christmas Day.
“Siguro nakarealize na sila sa danger sa effects sa paputok kung madisgrasya,” said Dr. Socrates Villamor, Provincial Department of Health Officer in Negros Oriental.
(Perhaps, people have realized the danger and effects of being a casualty of a firecracker explosion.)
Villamor told CDN Digital that during the one-week surveillance in hospitals in the province there were no reported cases.
“Effective pud ang campaign sa Department of Health nga Iwas Paputok. And I think sa economic reasons pud siguro kay mahal baya pud ng mga pabuto. Nganong magasto-gasto pa man ka ana kay sa ipalit ug pagkaon, “ Villamor added.
(The Iwas Paputok campaign of the Department of Health has been effective. And I think, economic reason is also a factor because firecrackers nowadays are quite expensive. Why would one have to spend on firecrackers when we can buy the money for food instead.)
Villamor said the monitoring of the DOH will continue until the New Year and they would be hoping for a zero case on firecracker accidents.
He appealed to the people of Negros Oriental to use other means of welcoming and celebrating the new year.
“Hopefully zero ra gyud gihapon unya magmatngon ra gyud and mga tawo sa danger sa paputok. Mas maayo dili mogamit ug pabuto aron dili madisgrasya,” Villamor advised the public.
(Hopefully, it would still be zero casualty and that we should be careful on the danger of using firecrackers. It would be better if on would not use firecrackers to avoid accidents.)
On the other hand, Police Colonel Julian Entoma, Negros Oriental Provincial Police director, revealed a zero indiscrimate firing case in Negros Oriental from December 24 to 6 a.m. of December 25.
There were also no reported victims of stray bullets.
“Kay kung ang mga sibilyan mag indiscriminate firing moreport naman ang mga silingan. Atong ma aplayan og search warrant kung dili man nato madakpan sa akto. Ang atong information dissemination makatabang kaayo og daku sama aning walay magpabuto, “ Entoma said.
(If the civilians would do indiscriminate firing, their neighbors would report them to authorities. We can then apply a search warrant if we cannot catch them on the act. Our Information dissemination also helped a lot and this resulted to no one indiscriminately firing on Christmas Day.)
However, the NOPPO director admitted that indiscriminate firing would usually happen in welcoming the New Year.
In relation to this, Entoma appealed to the public, “Nanawagan ko sa tanan nga kung mahimo atong sugaton ang bag-ong tuig nga mopasiga ug luces dili magpabuto og armas.”
(I appeal to the public to welcome the New Year with sparklers instead of firing your guns.)
Entoma also asked the illegal gun owners to surrender their firearms to avoid being caught and imprisoned.
“Kadaghanan nato ron dunay cellphone. Kung makuhaan sila ug picture ug maidentify sila ug ma viral sila ma identify jud namo ug asa sila. Ang importante and atong silingan makialam, ivideo o mokuha ug mga picture in case dunay ingon ana magpasiga-siga,” Entoma said.
(Most of us have cellphones. If you can get a photo, then they can be identified and their videos or photos would go viral online then they can be identified and located. What is important is that the neighbors will be responsible enough get videos or a picture of those troublemakers and report them to authorities.)