The police and fire department of Lapu-Lapu City are monitoring the firecracker display area in barangays Babag and Canjulao as buyers are expected to flock to the area for the holiday revelery.
Lapu-Lapu City Fire Marshall Oscar Mayol sent a fire truck to the area and tasked his men to check the display stalls from time to time to ensure the vendors comply with safety measures.
Senior Supt. Armando Radoc, acting chief of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, also fielded policemen there.
They also check if vendors are following safety regulations like distances between stalls, and a strict no-smoking rule in the area.
The firecracker display area in Lapu-lapu City is occupies an area about two kilometers long.
Monitoring will continue until December 31 as more people are expected to buy firecrackers for the New Year revelry.
The police have arrested a few vendors who display their products outside the designated area.
Grace Pongasi, 65, of barangay Babag, Lapu-Lapu City, said sales have seen better years.
Her family has been in the firecracker and pyrotechnics manufacturing business for years.
She lamented that unlike before, some people prefer to buy imported firecrackers from China and no longer patronize locally made r products.
She also observed that the number of people hwo who spend for firecrackers during Christmas and New Year has decreased, which has affected their sales. /CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA