Police Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gifter Sucalit, deputy director for operations of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) did not record any incident of indiscriminate firing in the province on New Year’s Day celebration.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gifter Sucalit, deputy director for operations of the CPPO, said that the celebration was generally peaceful.
He said that their security preparations helped, including the cooperation of the community.
Further, Sucalit said that they only recorded three firecracker-related injuries in the province and these individuals sustained minor injuries from the incident.
These are based on the records that the 50 police stations in the province have given them.
“ We are currently coordinating sa atoang partner agency which is yung DOH para mavalidate atoang data. Ang atoang gisulti karon kay product ni karon sa reports sa atoang nga police stations sa Cebu province,” Sucalit said.
(We are currently coordinating with our partner agency, which is DOH, to validate our data. What we are saying now is a product of the reports of our police stations in Cebu province.)
Police have been intensifying their information dissemination against using of firecrackers in welcoming the new year since early December.
Firecracker-related injuries up
Aside from that, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) reported an increase in firecracker-related injuries in the region in their latest report.
From Dec. 21, 2022 to Jan. 1, 2023, the DOH-7 said that at least 35 firecracker-related injuries were reported in Central Visayas. On Jan. 1 alone, they logged three incidents.
A total of 16 of these were logged in Cebu Province together with 5 in Lapu-Lapu City and 4 in Cebu City.
Four other cases each were also reported in Bohol and Negros Oriental provinces and two in Siquijor.
Most of the victims or 14 of them suffered hand injuries and the rest suffered minor injuries on their eyes; on the head and legs; thigh and neck; on the forearm, abdomen, and chest and on the foot.
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