Destruction of illegal firecrackers in Cebu City. | Courtesy of Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Illegal firecrackers worth P246,000 from operations during the Christmas and New Year season were destroyed at the Plaza Sugbo on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), through its 11 stations in the city, confiscated various firecrackers ranging from the usual fountains, kwitis, shotgun, piccolo, triangle, judas belt, and whistle bomb to the more unique Saturn missiles, angry birds, butterfly, and others.
The CCPO has been conducting clearing operations on sellers of illegal firecrackers since the start of the Christmas season up until January 2022 in compliance to the Executive Order of Mayor Michael Rama on the ban of firecrackers in the city, especially after Typhoon Odette.
READ: CCPO official: Refrain from using firecrackers as Odette has left city susceptible to fires
Rama praised the CCPO for their implementation of the ban on firecrackers and for helping reduce the incidents of burns and residential fires during the two major holidays.
“When it comes to the performance of the policemen and policewomen of Cebu City, I am very much contented,” he said.
The firecrackers were destroyed through the help of the Bureau of Fire Protection at the Plaza Sugbo grounds in front of the City Hall.
Meanwhile, Rama said he will be appealing to the national police officials at Camp Crame to keep Police Colonel Josefino Ligan as director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
The mayor said the city needs steady leadership in the police force, especially as the city continues to struggle with typhoon aftermath as well.
For his part, Ligan said that he is grateful for the trust and confidence of the mayor although his assignment will still depend on the directive of his superiors.
“We have an organizational policy that those who are holding a position for more than a year will be reshuffled. We have a hierarchical command, mosunod gyod ta ana. Pero mapasalamaton ko sa Cebu City government,” said Ligan.
For now, the CCPO is preparing for the upcoming election season and the gun ban.
/bmjo