PIA Press Release
Tuesday, January 03, 2012 New Year’s day fireworks injure 7 in Nueva Vizcayaby Ben Moses EbreoBAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, January 3 (PIA) -– The use of firecrackers during the celebration of the New Year resulted to the injury of at least seven persons in the province. The victims from Solano town were Jose Pilada, 33; Dominador Soriano, 39; and Rommel Soriano, 33. From Dupax del Sur, they were Ernesto Baya, Jr., 7 and Paul Adrian Umali, 6 and from Dupax del Norte were Reynante Reyes, 21 and Jason Mawili, 4. “These victims sustained minor firecracker injuries during the celebration of the new year. These are the initial reports we received and there were also municipalities which registered zero casualties,” said Police Senior Supt. Elmer Beltejar. He also said there was no reported incident on indiscriminate firing and there were no victims of stray bullets as they have intensified their campaign even before the Christmas and New Year’s eve. “We have a strict policy on this campaign as stipulated from the order of our higher headquarters. In fact, we have sealed our guns since last week to ensure a peaceful and injury-free new year’s day celebration,” he stressed. Dr. Edwin Galapon, chief of the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital (NVPH) said the number of victims of firecracker injuries have gone down in the past three years due to the intensified campaign against pyrotechnic use. “This has been achieved because of our intensified and ‘brutal’ campaign on firecracker use inorder to totally eliminate its use during the Christmas and New Year celebration. This worked and we will continue to do it in the coming year end celebrations,” Galapon said. The Bureau of Fire Protection(BFP) also reported that burning of tires along the roads have been totally eradicated because of their constant visibility in various barangays. BFP personnel were also busy inspecting pyrotechnic sellers in designated areas near public markets in the province.(TCB/BME/PIA 2-Nueva Vizcaya) | 
