FIREWORKS VICTIM. A medical staff attends to a fireworks victim at the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) in Quezon City on Monday night (Dec. 31, 2023). The Department of Health reported 116 new fireworks-related injuries recorded on New Year’s Eve, bringing the total cases to 231 as of 5:59 a.m. on Jan. 1. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said 116 individuals were injured due to New Year’s Eve celebration, with an 11-month-old baby as the youngest victim, bringing the total cases to 231 as of 5:59 a.m. Jan. 1.
Aside from the injured baby from Metro Manila, the new cases also include a 76-year-old male from the Ilocos Region.
The baby’s face and right eye were burned by the illegal piccolo lit by someone else on the street while the old man’s right eye was injured by a Kwitis (skyrocket) that he lit at home. There were 65 eye injuries recorded during the revelry.
Three new cases of finger amputations were also recorded, bringing its total to 11.
Five victims of stray bullets have been logged so far but no additional reports of watusi ingestion.
“Baka madagdagan pa ho ito sapagkat kung minsan, nade-delay ang pag-report ng ating (The number of new cases may increase because sometimes, there is a delay in the reporting of) sentinel sites or hospitals,” DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said during a press conference.
He noted the number of fireworks-related injuries this year is high compared to the years when restrictions on public mobility were implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nonetheless, he said it is low compared to the highest average number of cases per day at 375 which was recorded during the New Year’s Eve of 2011.
“It (number of cases) went down to 159 in 2019,” he added.
Out of the overall tally of 231 fireworks-related injuries, about 113 cases came from the National Capital Region; 27 from Central Luzon; and 24 from the Ilocos Region.
The regions with the lowest number of recorded injuries are the Davao Region and Mimaropa with one case each; Northern Mindanao, Central Visayas, and Cordillera Autonomous Region with three cases each.
The top ranking identified fireworks that caused at least 73 percent of the fireworks-related cases are Kwitis, 5-Star, Boga, Piccolo, Whistle Bomb, Pla-Pla, Luces, Fountain and Triangle.
Only 44 percent of the total cases were caused by illegal fireworks as 56 percent of them were due to legal fireworks.
Herbosa said DOH will now keep an eye on tetanus cases and reminded those injured to immediately seek medical help to have their wound sanitized and receive a vaccine.
Indiscriminate firing
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said a drunk police officer in Zamboanga City fired his gun behind their barracks on New Year’s Eve.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the cop is currently under restrictive custody and would face criminal and administrative charges.
As of 6 a.m. Monday, the PNP logged 13 incidents of illegal discharge of firearms where 13 suspects were arrested and eight firearms were seized.
The suspects include three police officers, two military troops, one civilian and a barangay kagawad (village councilor) while the rest have yet to be identified.
Fajardo, meanwhile, said the PNP is investigating an incident where a 40-year-old male was allegedly hit by a stray bullet in Mariveles, Bataan.
“Nangyari ito kagabi lamang habang yung biktima ay nakatayo sa veranda ng bahay ay bigla na lamang ito tumumba at nung tiningnan nung kanyang mga kasamang nag-iinuman ay nakita nila na may tama itong bala sa kanyang tagiliran (It happened last night while the victim was standing at the veranda of his house. He suddenly collapsed and when he was checked by his drinking pals, they saw that the bullet hit the side part of his body),” she said in a radio interview Monday.
Fajardo said the victim’s four drinking buddies are under investigation.
She said the PNP also confiscated a total of 193,920 pieces of illegal firecrackers worth PHP3.7 million.
Fajardo said the PNP would remain on heightened alert until next week as people return from their holiday vacation.
“As to the assessment, generally peaceful nationwide,” she said. (PNA)
