Health authorities Sunday suddenly revised their earlier assessment that there had been a decline in firecracker injuries during the New Year's Eve revelry across the country. The Department of Health (DOH) said contrary to its earlier assessment issued Friday, it turned out there was actually an increase in the number of firecracker victims with three people killed and more than 800 injured during the countdown to the New Year on Dec. 31. Earlier last Friday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told a news conference that they have recorded zero fatality and a decline in the number of people hurt by firecrackers from 702 in the previous year to 597 this year. He attributed this to the Filipinos' more cautious way of lighting fireworks, the government's scare campaign showing severely mangled body parts, and the rising trend of celebrating the start of the New Year through street parties, concerts and public fireworks' display. But in its report Sunday, the DOH contradicted the assessment of its own chief as it listed more casualties during the revelry at the start of the New Year. The DOH report said the three fatalities were a seven-year-old boy who died of brain injury after being hit by a relatively small firecracker called “kwitis,” a 46-year old man who suffered severe blast burn caused by an unknown firecracker, and a 29-year old man who died of brain injury after being hit by a large firecracker called “Jumbo Kwiton bomb.” The report said until Jan. 2, injuries from firecracker rose to 807 with the addition of 237 new cases, while stray-bullet cases increased to 40 with the addition of 11 from Jan. 1. Of the 807 people injured by firecrackers, 69 had to be amputated, 118 sustained eye injuries and a majority had blast burns, the DOH said. It said the injuries due to firecrackers were higher by 124 cases, or 17 percent, than what was recorded at the start of 2009, while stray bullets injuries were up by 23 cases from the previous year. The report said the youngest victim of a stray bullet was an eight-year-old boy while the oldest was a 78-year-old man. Earlier, Duque urged Congress to approve proposed amendments to a law on the use firecrackers to celebrate New Year's Day to include what appeared to be harmless pyrotechnic products in the list of banned fireworks. Politicians also called for amending the law regulating pyrotechnics to prohibit the manufacture and use of dangerous firecrackers in the Philippines. Gwendolyn Pimentel, daughter of Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and a senatorial candidate of the Nationalista Party in this year's election, said the law should be amended to prohibiting exploding of firecrackers within l0 meters of children. She said children, especially those l2 years and below, should not be allowed to buy and handle firecrackers of whatever kind. “No adults should let children handle firecrackers or even pick them up from the ground. We have to protect the physical well-being of our children,” she said. She said last New Year's Eve, she was horrified to see small kids lighting firecrackers and throwing them indiscriminately into the streets without regard to persons and vehicles passing by. “It should be borne in mind that firecrackers, which use gunpowder as raw material, are as dangerous as any gun or explosive. They are not toys that children can play or tinker with anytime,” Pimentel said. __
