MANILA, 2 January 2006 — At least three people were killed and more than 600 others were injured in Christmas and New Year’s celebrations as many defied a government ban and continued a tradition of reckless celebrations.
Most of the injuries, as usual, were caused by firecracker blasts, officials said yesterday.
One victim died from indiscriminate gun firing and two men from accidentally eating a popular candy-looking sparkler, called watusi or dancing firecrackers, in the run-up to the new year, police and health officials said.
They said 610 others were injured, mostly by firecracker blasts, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press briefing.
Officials took a variety of steps to try to curb the casualties.
Police officials wrapped the nozzles of their men’s guns with paper tape and signed their names on the symbolic seals to ensure they would not be used in celebratory firing.
Despite police warnings of arrests, 26 people were hit by gunfire, including a young girl who died after being struck by a bullet as she was entering her house in Cavite province south of Manila. Only one man was arrested by police for firing a gun as the new year approached.
Duque said the number of people injured from the celebrations starting on Dec. 21 to New Year’s Day was up four percent from the same period last year.
He said 591 of the cases were firecracker-related injuries.
Improvement
Police statistics culled from Dec.16, 2005 to Jan. 1, 2006 showed a different figure, registering a 59-percent drop in firecracker-related injuries to 401 this year from 976 in 2004.
Duque noted the drop in stray bullet injuries this year to 19 cases from 33 cases in 2004.
In 2004, the Department of Health reported a total of 584 injuries due to firecrackers and one death due to watusi ingestion.
Duque also pointed out the sharp increase in eye injuries due to the introduction of improvised cannons made from PVC pipes in the market. Data showed that 99 of the total firecracker related-injuries were eye injuries. No comparative data was available.
“We can see that the trend (of firecracker-related injuries over the years) has reached a plateau. We can attribute this to our information campaign,” Duque said. Without providing exact figures, Duque said “majority” of the casualties this year were children and passersby. He also raised concern over a new firecracker called piccolo,” which explodes faster after being lit up compared with other pyrotechnics. He said the piccolo and “five star” firecrackers caused the most number of injuries this year.
Scare Campaign
Health officials encouraged TV networks to replay gory footage showing firecracker blast victims writhing in pain as doctors treated their mangled fingers or hands and bloodied faces.
Asked if he considered the government’s campaign a failure, Duque replied that it still succeeded in limiting firecracker injuries, citing figures in 2000, when victims exceeded 1,000, with more deaths.
“It can’t be said that it was a failure,” Duque said. “It’s not that bad.” Although firecracker blasts were less intense in metropolitan Manila than in the past, more than half of the accidents occurred in the congested capital of 12 million people.
Trauma and emergency centers in all city hospitals were still accepting a stream of patients hours after midnight.
At the Quirino Medical Center in suburban Quezon City, doctors struggled to re-attach a finger of 23-year-old Nilord Saguran, who was injured by a firecracker he was holding.
Unlike previous years, however, firecracker explosions intensified only in the final hour before the new year and left only a thin wisp of smoke over a few communities. Previous celebrations left thick, dark smog over the city, forcing airports to close.
The celebrations erupted into brawls in some neighborhoods.
Superstitious Filipinos believe the noisy New Year’s celebrations, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, drive away evil and misfortune. But some have taken the celebrations to bizarre levels and show off with daredevil stunts, including holding exploding firecrackers in their hands, standing close to fireworks or starting firework displays in crowded neighborhoods. (With input from Inquirer News Service & agencies)
