Police yesterday soaked assorted firecrackers in drums of water in a ceremony destroying seized goods worth more than P200,000 at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 headquarters.
The firecrackers were seized from street vendors in simultaneous crackdowns by different police units.
Police destroy firecrackers seized in separate operations by soaking them in drums of water in Camp Sergio Osmena in Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Chief Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, acting director of PRO-7, led the disposal of the confiscated firecrackers.
Gaerlan said they will arrest individuals who sell or transport firecrackers whose explosive content exceed standards set by law.
Some of the items were confiscated in non-designated areas from December 16 to 28.
They included noisemakers called piccolo, pop-pop, super lolo, sky missile and pla-pla.
Firecrackers sold in city streets and malls are considered illegal.
The Cebu City government has designated a seaside portion of the South Road Properties (SRP) as the sole vending area for firecrackers and pyrotechnics.
Gaerlan said the New Year can be celebrated in safer ways to avoid injuries and accidents.
“We can enjoy the merriment using torotot (toy horns), music and fun,” he told reporters.
As part of its security plan for the New Year revelry, all policemen in the region are mandated to be in the streets to respond to any untoward incident and arrest people using illegal firecrackers.
Hospitals in Cebu City are prepared to attend to victims of blast injuries, said Dr. Expedito Medalla, Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) of the Department of Health Central Visayas (DOH-7), who attended the disposal.
In Carmen town, north Cebu, police confiscated assorted firecrackers on Tuesday afternoon.
No arrested were made.
Twenty boxes of picollo, one box of “dancing fire” and assorted pyrodevices amounting to P1,300 were confiscated.
The area in front of the municipal hall is the official designated space for the display and sale of firecrackers, said PO3 Ronald Anoche of the Carmen police.
The confiscated firecrackers were e turned over to the Cebu Provincial Police Office.
Senior Insp. Philip John Libres led his men in visiting seven barangays of Carmen.
They seized firecrackers displayed along the road of barangays Cogon west, Cogon east, Poblacion, Dawis Notre, Dawis south, Luyang and Fuente.