{"id":241209,"date":"2020-01-01T18:25:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T23:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=241209"},"modified":"2020-01-01T18:25:19","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T23:25:19","slug":"firecrackers-injuries-down-by-35-doh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/01\/firecrackers-injuries-down-by-35-doh\/","title":{"rendered":"Firecrackers injuries down by 35%: DOH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a press briefing, Duque said from December 1 to the early morning of January 1, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 164 firecracker-related injuries lower than 251 cases reported during the same period last year. (File Photo:<\/a> Department of Health (Philippines)\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>–Firecracker-related injuries decreased by 35 percent nationwide as the country welcomed New Year’s Day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

In a press briefing, Duque said from December 1 to the early morning of January 1, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 164 firecracker-related injuries lower than 251 cases reported during the same period last year.<\/p>\n

Duque said the Executive Order No. 28, limiting the use of firecrackers in the country, has an impact in lowering the firecracker-related injuries.<\/p>\n

He also attributed the decrease to the DOH information campaign dubbed ‘IwasPaputok’, recognizing the support of media and local government units in providing awareness to the public.<\/p>\n

“This is indeed a welcome development but we will not stop until we achieve zero firework-related injuries,” he said.<\/p>\n

The number of injuries this year is 71 percent lower than the 403 cases reported in a five-year average, from 2014 to 2019.<\/p>\n

Though there is a decline of firecracker-related injuries, Duque said these numbers may still increase due to late consultations of the patients.<\/p>\n

Duque also said there were no immediate reports of firework-related deaths so far.<\/p>\n

The DOH will monitor and record cases until January 6.<\/p>\n

Zero Injury Target<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Duque said the DOH will try to achieve a zero firework-related injuries.<\/p>\n

He said the health department is working toward achieving this in the future saying: “What is the instrument of achieving (zero casualty)? Its banning it just like all other countries have banned the use of fireworks.”<\/p>\n

Among the top five fireworks causing injuries were kuwitis, luces, fountain, piccolo and baby rocket– and only piccolo is illegal.<\/p>\n

“There is no such thing as illegal or legal, these are all injurious,” Duque said.<\/p>\n

He hopes the current administration will be able to create a legacy of an absolute ban of fireworks to achieve the zero-injury target.<\/p>\n

“The DOH, I believe has the moral ascendancy to lead the way in banning fireworks, an absolute ban,” he said.<\/p>\n

Although the banning of fireworks will provide a great impact on achieving the goal, Duque said DOH will explore some considerations in proposing the law.<\/p>\n

“DOH has been known to be a very democratic institution and it always seeks the views of our parties, of our sectors before we craft a putative or a supposed law on banning fireworks,” he said.<\/p>\n

Duque said the DOH will have a more balanced approach in crafting the law or a bill for Congress to take up.<\/p>\n

“This is not a single, one-dimensional issue we have to take into consideration many other fastens of the issue, the economic implications, the people’s livelihood will be affected,” he added.<\/p>\n

Duque said the government has to consider the alternative livelihood for those who will be affected by the banning of fireworks.<\/p>\n

He added there are many ways to make noise during the merrymaking, which are safer.<\/p>\n

“I am appealing to the parents once again to be responsible. The future of their children rests in their shoulders,” Duque said.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the Bureau of Fire Protection spokesperson Senior Supt. Geranndie Agonos said the fire incident from last year is 24 percent lower this year.<\/p>\n

“This means the joint Oplan Iwas Paputok campaign by the DOH, PNP (Philippine National Police) and BFP is effective,” he said.<\/p>\n

The PNP Explosive Management Division Officer-in-charge, Lt. Col. Lorenzo Cobre said they are monitoring and inspecting the safety of all fireworks manufacturer’s storages.<\/p>\n

“We are also monitoring the supplier of the chemicals,” he added.<\/p>\n

He said the fireworks circulating in the market are legally manufactured in the Philippines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA–Firecracker-related injuries decreased by 35 percent nationwide as the country welcomed New Year’s Day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":241210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-lade-jean-kabagani","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241211,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241209\/revisions\/241211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}