Makati cops all set for New Year countdown
December 26, 2012 | 3:43pm
MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City Police has laid out its security plan for the traditional New Year’s Eve countdown at Ayala Avenue.
Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban, Makati City Police chief, said personnel from the city police’s explosives and ordnance division will check the pyrotechnics to be used for the 15-minute pyro-musical show to be held at the Ayala Triangle during the countdown for the New Year.
In addition, Lukban said police officers would also be deployed to provide security to revelers along Ayala Avenue.
Meanwhile, Lukban said the city police is also strictly enforcing a 1994 city ordinance banning the sale of firecrackers to minors as well as the sale of large and dangerous firecrackers.
Lukban said they are monitoring stalls selling firecrackers and fireworks along Filmore Street in Barangay Palanan, which is the traditional area for selling firecrackers.
“At present, there are only a few stalls selling fireworks and these are mostly just the aerial ones,” said Lukban.
Ordinance No. 1997-290 prohibits storeowners or merchants in Makati from selling any kind of firecracker to minors aged 15 years old and below, and imposes a fine of P1,000 and imprisonment for 15 days, or both at the discretion of the court.
24-hour patrol in oil-leaked barangays
Lukban said that police officers are also conducting patrols in barangays Bangkal, Pio del Pilar and Magallanes – which were affected by a petroleum pipeline leak – to make sure that no firecrackers are lit in the areas.
The Makati City government had earlier reminded residents that barangays Bangkal, Pio del Pilar and Magallanes remain “no-firecracker” zones since the ban took effect two years ago.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay called on the residents of Barangays Bangkal, Pio del Pilar and Magallanes to strictly observe the ban to avoid any untoward incident, and instead use pots and pans or blow their horns to make noise as they greet the New Year.
“Since the problem of the oil leak has not been resolved with finality, the ban on firecrackers, pyrotechnics and similar explosive materials will continue to be strictly implemented in the three affected barangays,” Binay said in a statement.
Binay expressed concern that firecrackers may trigger fires in these adjacent barangays that are traversed by the leaked pipeline of the Lopez-owned First Philippine Industrial Corporation (FPIC).
The city council passed City Ordinance No. 2010-A-020 in December 2010 banning the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic materials in the three areas after soil tests indicated the presence of oil plumes in the soil that was already saturated with petroleum products.
In July 2010, a mixture of oil and water was detected at the basement of West Tower condominium building located along Osmeña Highway, Barangay Bangkal, prompting the city government to order an evacuation and shut down the 22-story building.
The leak was later traced to the nearby pipeline of Lopez-owned FPIC, which transports fuel products from Batangas province to the Pandacan oil depots in Manila.
Based on an order issued by the Supreme Court, FPIC launched a remediation program although the cleaning of the affected areas is expected to take years.
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