Davao City continues to maintain a zero firecrackers- and stray bullet-related casualty during the celebration of Christmas eve.
Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) chief of clinics Dr. Ricardo Audan reported that no one was brought to their emergency room as injured victim or casualty from the night of December 24 up to the whole day of December 25.
Audan also said that from December 21 when they started the code white alert, no one has been brought to the SPMC even from the neighboring provinces that have no firecrackers ban ordinance.
“Ang monitoring ng firecracker injury and stray bullet injury in relation to yuletide season is on going up to Jan 6, 2019 (Our monitoring for the firecracker and stray bullet injuries in relation to yuletide season is on going up to January 6, 2019),” he said.
Davao, one of the six cities in the Davao Region, had not experienced firecracker-related injuries during Christmas celebration since President Rodrigo Duterte who came back as mayor in 2001, gave his stern warning against the use of firecrackers although the city council passed the ordinance in 2002 to totally ban the use of firecrackers and other forms of pyrotechnics in the city.
The President advised the public for this coming New Year’s day welcome , not to used any explosives or fireworks but instead use improvised noise makers to still enjoy the celebration
“Let’s meet the New Year with a big big bang using improvised sounds like lata,kaldero,siren and our vehicles, etc,” he said.
Meanwhile, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum bared that the DCPO did not record any arrest in relation to the firecracker ban ordinance in the city during Christmas eve.
Tagum said the 12 police stations in the city did not receive any report of people who were using firecrackers and pyrotechnics while celebrating.
“Indeed it’s Silent Night and Holy Night in the city,” he said, rhapsodizing titles of the two famous Christmas songs.
With this, he said people in the city are already aware of the consequence they might get if they insist in using firecrackers.
Tagum said he is thankful to the Dabawenyos for the cooperation and support the authorities get by following the ordinance.
He also said the appeal of Mayor Sara Z. Duterte to the people to report violators might be one factor why people followed the law.
Tagum vowed to arrest all violators of the ordinance if they caught anyone.
He said there will be mobile patrol units in the city that will go around especially in the interior areas to make sure no violators could get away.
Tagum also said aside from no firecracker ban violators reported, there were also no untoward incidents happened in the city during The Christmas revelry.
However, he said the DCPO will still be on high alert status following the threats that could possibly occur in the city.
