The Philippine National Police (PNP) declared on Tuesday that there were no recorded deaths because of stray bullets in the celebration of the New Year this year.
However, PNP chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said that there were 26 people who have been arrested for illegal possession of firearms during the festivities on the weekend, noting that 20 of them were civilians while the remaining six were from the uniformed forces.
Meanwhile, the PNP has also confiscated a total of P390, 229 worth of illegal firecrackers and arrested 74 people for illegal possession of firecrackers.
Dela Rosa credited the drop of casualties in this year’s celebration to President Rodrigo Duterte’s issuance of Executive Order 28 limiting the use of firecrackers and with the support of the local government units (LGUs).
In compliance to the order, a total of 3,945 community fireworks display areas were positioned all over the country.
The police chief also lauded the public for watching against gunfire and also the PNP for their intensified campaign against the illegal manufacture and sale of firecrackers.
“I would like to congratulate our police personnel for the effective operations and campaign on if which resulted to an all-time low incidence and casualties,” Dela Rosa said.
The Department of Health (DOH), for its part, also attributed the implementation of Duterte’s EO for the record low of 191 firecracker-related injuries, posting a 68-percent dip from last year.
“We would like to thank first and foremost President Rodrigo Duterte for passing or signing Executive Order 28, which truly reinforced the efforts of the DOH and complimented by the efforts of other concerned agencies,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a press briefing on Monday.
“We are relatively pleased … because of the substantial reduction, decrease in fireworks-related injuries from Dec. 21, 2017 to January 1, 2018,” Duque added.