COTABATO CITY -- The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in North Cotabato on Saturday reported one stray bullet and 17 cases of firecracker-related injuries during the Christmas and New Year’s revelries.
Dr. Eva Rabaya, North Cotabato health chief and IPHO head, said Kidapawan City has the highest number of victims at nine, followed by the towns of M’lang and Tulunan with three each.
One firecracker victim each was listed in the towns of Aleosan and Midsayap, while the stray bullet victim was recorded in Pikit town.
“The 20-year-old man was celebrating New Year’ Eve in Pikit when suddenly hit by a stray bullet in his arm,” Rabaya said.
She added a 12-year-old boy in Tulunan had to undergo amputation since one of his fingers was seriously damaged by a "five-star" firecracker.
“The youngest victim was a four-year-old boy while the eldest was 20,” Rabaya said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health–Soccsksargen reported conflicting figures on the total number of firecracker victims at 22 across the region with South Cotabato province topping the list based on their Online National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (ONEISS) from Dec. 21 to January 5 monitoring period.
The DOH-12 report showed South Cotabato province as having the most number of injuries at 10, followed by North Cotabato with seven, Sarangani and this city with two each, and Sultan Kudarat with one.
When asked why North Cotabato had 18 victims, Jenny Panizales, speaking for DOH-Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City), could only theorize that maybe some of the firework victims did not seek medication in hospitals but instead opted to seek treatment in private clinics and village health centers.
“Our reporting is based on hospital record,” she said. (PNA)
