Mandaluyong enforces ban on firecrackers

Mandaluyong City imposed a ban on the use, sale, and manufacture of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices in the city during the New Year festivities, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

Mayor Carmelita Abalos issued Executive Order No. 39 enforcing the total ban on the manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices in the city.

“This order is intended to ensure the integrity of the health of the City’s constituents especially during the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic while retaining the festive spirit of the Filipino people during the celebration of the New year,” Abalos said in the order.

The order is in consonance with Resolution No. 19 passed by the Regional Peace and Order Council-National Capital Region which recommended the prohibition of the use and sale of firecrackers in Metro Manila.

“The City recognizes that in order to further reduce firecracker-related injuries which would require emergency care and treatment at hospitals and to prevent mass gatherings, the manufacture distribution, sale, and use of firecrackers in the City must be prohibited,” the order read.

Prohibited firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices confiscated by authorities will be destroyed.

Several metro cities have also implemented their own firecracker ban this New Year as precaution amid the ongoing threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).