Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo today directed officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division to effect immediate inspection of all firecrackers and pyrotechnics manufacturers’ stores and plants in the country, particularly in Bulacan, and ensure safety of all products they would sell in the market.

 

The DILG chief directed BFP chief Samuel Perez and Chief Superintendent Napoleon Estilles, PNP FED chief, to coordinate and request representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Health in carrying out their tasks.

“In the advent of the Holiday Seasons, particularly during the Christmas and New Year’s eve celebrations, we expect different types of fireworks and firecrackers to flood the market. We need to regulate and check the efficacy and safety all these products to reduce firecracker-related injuries,” he said.

The BFP, Robredo said, should inspect all firecracker stores and plants in the country and ensure that all of them comply with fire safety regulations and avoid accidental fires and explosions.

The PNP FED, which has control over the ingredients being used in the manufacture of firecrackers, on the other hand, should strictly enforce Republic Act 7183 or the law regulating the manufacture and sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnics to ensure that all banned products such as “atomic big triangulo,baby dynamite, super lolo, kwiton and similar devices will not be sold in the market, the DILG chief said.

“The BFP and PNP FED should take an aggressive stance in enforcing their mandates and must closely coordinate with the firecrackers and pyrotechnics manufacturers and distributors to prevent fires and explosions in their plants and stores, and most importantly, reduce firecracker-related deaths and injuries,” Robredo said.

The DILG chief said there is also a continuing need for a closer coordination among the DILG-PNP, the DTI, DOH and other concerned agencies to properly classify firecrackers and pyrotechnics to determine which are authorized for sale to the public and which are not.

“This is because every year, we get to learn and hear new and more powerful firecracker products being sold in the market. We should ensure they are banned in the market. Most of the time, these banned products are the main causes of death and injuries during Christmas and New Year’s eve celebrations,” he said.

To protect the local firecrackers industry, Robredo also instructed the PNP-FED to coordinate with the Bureau of Customs to prevent the influx and sale in the local market of illegally imported or smuggled firecracker products from China and other countries.

“The PNP FED and the BoC should also make an aggressive campaign against smuggled firecracker and pyrotechnic products by going after unscrupulous traders and distributors of the unregulated products,” he said.

The DILG chief also urged all local chief executives – from governors down to barangay officials – to actively participate in the government’s anti-firecracker campaign to reduce firecracker-related deaths and injuries in their respective localities.

“They can come up with local ordinances assigning designated areas for people to light up firecrackers and implement safety measures thereat,” he said.

Source : www.dilg.gov.ph