THE celebration of New Year in Pangasinan was generally peaceful with only 17 persons reported hurt from December 21 to January 1, although the final count for firecracker-related injuries will still be known on January 5.

P/Colonel Ronald Gayo, police provincial director, described the decrease in firecracker- related incidents in the province as very significant and attributed this to the police operations against unauthorized and banned firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

On the other hand, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Anna de Guzman said her office recorded 90 percent decrease in firecracker-related incidents and most of those hurt were passive users of firecrackers who may have innocently picked up unexplored firecrackers or were hit by wayward baby rockets.

The active users, she explained, were those who lit the firecrackers themselves and were hurt in the process.

De Guzman said that based on the current data received by PHO, the most common firecrackers that caused injuries to revelers were baby rockets (kwitis) and sparklers (luces).

Even before Christmas, Gayo instructed all chiefs of police to watch out for firecrackers being brought in by traders and to be sold in the streets by unauthorized sellers.

Thousands of pesos worth of firecrackers and pyrotechnics that were seized by the police in their operations against banned firecrackers on the eve of New Year and a few hours later.

The police arrested vendors that sold the confiscated banned firecrackers and pyrotechnics, are facing cases filed before the courts.

There was one stray bullet incident that was recorded. This was in Barangay Lucao, Dagupan City at 3:30 a.m. on January 1. The victim, Raymundo Dalioan, 39, was hit on the left leg by a bullet that he said fell from the roof of their makeshift hut. But this was doubted by police investigators as there was no hole in the roof of Dalioan’s house.

Dalioan said he and live-in partner, Jean Perez, were about to go to sleep when the incident happened. He was brought to the Region Medical Center by Perez and his cousin who live nearby for treatment but declined confinement and instead opted to just do home treatment.

Reports about two other stray bullet incidents that allegedly happened Lingayen and Alcala are still being verified at presstime.

Meanwhile, a woman in Barangay Naguilayan, Binmaley was arrested by the police in the act of  exploding firecrackers at past 2:00 a.m. on January 1.

Recovered from the suspect, Jenny Agustin, 45, were one lighter, five pieces of exploded crying cow firecrackers, one baby rocket and 10 empty bottles being used as launching pads for baby rockets.

She was charged with violation of Presidential Decree No. 7183 and Section 4 of Municipal Ordinance No. 7, series of 2020 (Firecracker Ban). (Leonardo Micua)

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