EDITORIAL - Enforce the law

The holiday rush includes preparations to welcome the new year, including revelry using firecrackers. And as in previous years, firecracker-related injuries have started weeks before New Year’s Eve.

The Department of Health reported that in the morning of Nov. 27, a 10-year-old boy in Ilocos Norte nearly lost three fingers when a piccolo he was holding exploded prematurely. It is the first firecracker-related injury of the season. DOH and police officials are hoping to bring down the number of injuries as they launch tomorrow the annual “Iwas Paputok” campaign to discourage the use of illegal firecrackers.

It’s an annual laudable effort although change comes slowly to Filipinos when it comes to holiday revelry. Piccolo has long been banned but continues to be manufactured, distributed and, as the boy in Ilocos Norte showed, purchased. There is a list of banned firecrackers, including trianggulo, super lolo and pla-pla. But these products still keep showing up every year in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve.

Almost every year there is a new version of the season’s most powerful firecracker, packaged with a catchy name such as “Osama bin Laden” and “Goodbye Philippines.” These products are sold openly in the sidewalks of Manila and other cities, making you wonder whether anyone is enforcing Republic Act 7183, the law regulating the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnics.

The local fireworks industry, facing stiff competition from imports, has moved to raise product quality. But these better products as well as imported fireworks are pricey, and the market remains large for more affordable items even if these may be crudely made and hazardous to handle. For some revelers, the risks add to the fun of greeting the New Year with a bang.

Attitudes toward New Year revelry may change slowly, but the government can hasten it by improving the regulation of firecrackers. Inefficiency and corruption are among the biggest reasons for the continued proliferation of banned firecrackers such as piccolo. Apart from reminding the public about the hazards posed by banned firecrackers, more effort must be made to compel compliance with the law