Firecracker manufacturers might want to look for another source of livelihood amid government plans to ban these dangerous items for the sake of public safety and health, President Duterte declared Monday.
The President bewailed the annual cases of firecracker-related injuries and how its makers have long skirted responsibility for their products due to lack of labels and warnings. As a result, the government is having difficulty running after these companies in case of injuries during the New Year’s Eve revelry, Duterte said.
“‘Yung Bocaue, I really understand you. I might even sympathize with you. Loss of earnings and you are driven out of business. But the problem is the higher duty of government to protect public interest, public health,” he said in a televised address Monday night.
“Why would I allow a product that is a hazard to the health and life, and probably losing your life or limb? …Iniisip ko ‘yan na panahon na siguro na (Maybe it is time that) you shift to another or look for something where you can use the powders there,” he added.
The President affirmed his plan to restrict the sale of deadly firecrackers despite a reported appeal from Bulacan officials to reconsider such plan to save jobs of workers in the fireworks industry. Bocaue, Bulacan is a known trading hub of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices in the country.
He said the Philippines is one of the few countries that allow firecrackers “with wild abandon.” He said firecrackers sold in the country are not properly marked with the manufacturer’s name and do not have safety warning. (Genalyn Kabiling)
