A streetsmart guide to fireworks

Wanting to end 2009 with as big a bang as possible, people still continue to sell and use firecrackers, despite the obvious danger.

The Department of Health (DOH) has persistently advised the public against using firecrackers. Here's a quick overview of these popular but perilous implements of merry-making.

Pesky piccolos

The piccolo, named for its small size and flute-like shape, is attractive as candy. It’s also just as bad for your fingers as candy is bad for your teeth.

Deceptively innocent-looking, the piccolo takes the cake as the number one cause of firecracker related injuries so far this year. As of Thursday morning, 121 of the 207 reported firecracker-related injuries involved the piccolo.

“(Piccolos were) the number one cause of injury during the last holiday season and it did not only cause minor injuries but also severe ones like the ruptured eyeball of a boy in Bicol," warned DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III.

The trend seems to continue unabated this year. According to current data from the East Avenue Medical Center, since December 21, the hospital has admitted 31 cases of piccolo-related injuries; five cases of injuries from 5-stars; and just a single reported case each for injuries from luces, triangles, whistle-bombs, and even gunshot wounds.

Very few vendors on the street

Vendors have made themselves quite scarce in the past few days: it’s not as easy anymore to spot the familiar New Year’s Eve sight of assorted firecrackers piled high on makeshift tables by the roadside.

Across Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, where commuter traffic is heavy, only a single stall was immediately visible on the morning of December 31. The stall, manned by two men and a young child, had their permit hanging in front of the shiny eye-catching firecrackers.

The stall quoted the following prices for their wares:

• Roman Candle (P60)
  
• Victory Light (P60)
  
• Fountain (P60)
  
• Judas’ Belt (P70)
  
• Mabuhay Luces (P30)
  
• Kwitis (P6)
  
• Big Trompillo (P40)

Asked why they were the only ones selling there, the vendors simply shrugged and said “Meron din diyan sa kabila." (There are also vendors at the other side.)

The vendors get their firecrackers from Norzagaray. Most firecrackers are sourced from Bocaue, Bulacan.

Along Anonas St. in Quezon City, there was also a solitary makeshift stall selling firecrackers. This time, there was no visible permit. The cheerful, heavily tattooed vendors had a small pile of firecrackers, and some on display sticking out from an empty beer bottle:

• Jumbo Silver Fountain (P120)
  
• Mini Silver (P65)
  
• Small Silver (P35)
  
• Lucky Taal Volcano (P75)
  
• Battery (P250)
  
• Luces (P75)

Asked if they had any piccolos, the vendors hesitated before replying. “Meron ako. Sa bahay (Sure I do. At home)," said one of the vendors while laughing. “Ang mga ito, hindi naman banned (The ones you see here aren’t illegal)," he continued, pointing to the firecrackers spread on the rickety table. “Pang pamilya ang mga ito (These can be enjoyed by families," added the other.

A wet market in Barangka, Mandaluyong, had a couple of firecrackers stalls. Towards Bonifacio Avenue were five or six others, said Anika, a last-minute media noche shopper. Meanwhile, platinum fireworks from Bulacan were being sold in S & R.

Fireworks: a package deal of problems

According to Dr. Jose Florencio Lapeña Jr. of the Philippine General Hospital, explosive fireworks, no matter how small, can cause blast and burn injuries –including concussions, tearing, ripping, crushing of skin, flesh, and bone. Swallowing firecrackers, especially watusi, causes poisoning.

Firecrackers may also cause problems with inhalation like irritation and burning of airways. Loud fireworks cause hearing problems, bright ones if stared at directly affect eyes, or can burn or blast eyes if they hit them. All the smoke can be inhaled.

He also mentions that secondary damage and injuries to property and environment indirectly affect us also, citing pollution, global warming, and fires.

Explosives are cheap; medicine and surgery aren’t

While firecrackers are sold relatively cheap, the cost of treating an injury is high, not to mention the loss of work and quality of life. Depending on the injury, a person needing treatment will have to shoulder the immediate medical costs: cleaning solutions and disinfectants; anti-tetanus serum and anatoxal; antibiotics; syringes; intravenous lines; fluids; and anaesthetics.

It’s relatively cheap to undergo amputation, but reconstruction will cost you: reattaching a severed limb, for example, could cost you several hundred thousand pesos. There are also hospitalization and rehabilitation costs.

‘Pasaway’

Despite this risk and repeated warnings against using firecrackers, many Filipinos cannot let go of the yearly tradition. Many believe that the coming year ought to be ushered in with a lot of noise, supposedly to ward off evil spirits.

Roman Francis, a twenty-something IT professional and a self-avowed active fireworks user since he was three years old, started out with the simplest firecrackers. Although he had already suffered a minor burn once, he continues to use fireworks, as this is part of their family tradition.

“Puro luces lang. Hanggang umabot na ako sa phase na ako na yung nag-aayos ng paputok sa compound namin. Naaksidente na ako, sa luces. Napaso ako dahil lighter pinanindi ko eh biglang nag-ignite," relates Roman Francis in an interview with GMANews.tv.

(I started out just handling luces. It reached the point when I was arranging fireworks for our entire compound. I did get into an accident before, using luces. I was burned because I was using a lighter when it suddenly ignited.)

The injury was considered small, and the only incidence in their Novaliches compound in years. “Wala pang naaaksidente sa amin dahil takot lahat maaksidente. Natatakot pero nakasanayan na kasi every December, nagsisimula na yung pagpapaputok (We haven’t had any accidents since everyone is afraid to get hurt. Still, we’re accustomed to it because everyone uses fireworks in December)," Francis said.

Where did fireworks come from, anyway?

Fireworks, like gunpowder, have a long and fabled history. Ruben D. Canlas Jr. writes in his blog that fireworks were unintentionally discovered by a cook.

“Said cook purportedly mixed three common kitchen items: charcoal, salt peter and sulphur, and lit the mixture, thereby simultaneously discovering a new way to entertain and to kill, and probably also cooking the first Chinese flambe in unrecorded history," Canlas quipped.

Exploding firecrackers were produced later during the Song dynasty (ca. 960 – 1279) by a Chinese monk named Li Tian. The first firecrackers made of bamboo shoots filled with gunpowder were exploded at the commencement of the new year to scare away evil spirits, according to Anne Marie Helmenstine, PhD in her article on About.com.

The watusi

Hundreds of years later, the arguably happy accident has proven to be an explosive hit. Fireworks and firecrackers are a much-awaited activity in various events, from institutional celebrations and holidays.

In fact, watusi, the ubiquitous Filipino firecracker that kids and kids at heart love to purchase from sari-sari stores is so popular (and affordable) that people use it even when there’s no occasion.

Watusi, the dancing firecracker probably named after the Batutsi tribal dance, is such a part of Pinoy popular culture that it has made its way into a pick up line. “Nakakain ka ba ng watusi? Pag nag-smile ka kasi, may nakikita akong spark," as listed in a blog entry. According to the Oxford English dictionary, watusi is an energetic dance popular in the 1960s. - TJD, GMANews.TV