Noisy but safe: Inventor pushes electronic firecracker, cannon

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino inventor is introducing “Digong,” “Boy” and “Trump” electronic firecrackers as safe and environment-friendly alternatives to welcoming the New Year with a bang.

Francisco Pagayon, president and chief executive officer of the Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative (FISPC), said Digong was named after President Duterte,  Boy for Science Secretary Fortunato “Boy” de la Peña, and Trump for US president-elect Donald Trump.

The three are the new and improved models of e-firecrackers
that he conceptualized and developed weeks before New Year’s Eve last year.

He explained that e-firecrackers produce rapid explosive sounds, without causing an actual explosion. 

The e-firecrackers are made up of electronics that load electricity to produce loud sounds, similar to the explosion of piccolo firecrackers but much louder.

E-firecrackers run on electricity and could be set off with a lighted match or lighter just like any traditional firecracker.

The cannon-type e-firecrackers are produced by Pagayon’s Oral Educational Distributor and showcased and offered for sale at FISPC showroom and business center at Delta building, corner Quezon and West avenues in Quezon City.

“These are much-improved versions of the e-firecracker we came up with last year,” Pagayon said in an interview yesterday at the FISPC showroom.

The e-firecrackers look like cannons, Pagayon admitted, since they are also meant to serve as the modern, high-tech versions of the bamboo cannons that were crudely built by Filipinos in the past to make noise during the New Year revelry.

Digong is a big cannon or bazooka-like e-firecracker; Boy is a smaller version while Trump includes four cannons on a platform pack that features two tube mounts where Roman candles could be inserted and easily lighted up by revelers.

Pagayon said that the e-firecrackers do not emit toxic smoke unlike traditional firecrackers used in the Philippines.

“With our e-firecrackers, we can celebrate New Year the way we Filipinos want to – with loud firecracker blasts, safely and also without causing heavy smoke pollution,” Pagayon said.

He pointed out that his e-firecrackers are safe and could be used indoors, except for the Trump model that is used as a mount for Roman candles.

“Let’s welcome the New Year without injuries and damage to property. The cannon-type electric firecrackers also do not cause air pollution and waste. It is a Filipino innovation for the world celebration of New Year’s Eve,” said Pagayon.

Early victims

On its second day of monitoring, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday that piccolo and boga, both illegal, have caused injuries to two more youths aged 15 and 14, while a six-year-old boy was hospitalized after ingesting luces or sparklers.

The new cases brought to six the total number of firecracker-related injuries reported by sentinel hospitals to the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau as of 6 a.m. of Dec. 23. 

According to DOH spokesman Eric Tayag, a 15-year-old male from Iloilo City sustained injuries in both eyes due to boga, an improvised cannon that he ignited. He is confined at the Western Visayas Medical Center. 

A 14-year-old boy from Manila suffered lacerations in his right hand after a piccolo blast. He was brought to Ospital ng Maynila.

Tayag added a six-year-old boy from Cainta, Rizal placed luces between his teeth on Thursday.  

The patient was “essentially normal at the time of examination and was sent home with advice to brush his teeth and gargle water.” 

DOH records showed these new cases are three cases lower than the cases documented during the same period last year.

The agency will be monitoring 50 sentinel hospitals nationwide until Jan. 5, 2017.  

Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno urged the public to use cellphones and other safer methods instead of firecrackers to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Sueno said it is better for people to avoid firecrackers, lowering the risk of being included in the list of firecracker-related injuries. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Emmanuel Tupas, Ric Sapnu