But Police Lt. Col. Franco Rodulf Oriol, the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) deputy city director for operation and spokesperson, said the city government allows the use and selling only of pyrotechnic devices or firework displays.
He said other sorts of firecrackers, particularly the huge ones such as Boga (a modern version of the bamboo cannon), are still banned in the city.
The period of the ban is Dec. 16 to New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2023.
Oriol made the remarks in a press conference at the MCPO Station 1 in Barangay Centro Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.
Oriol said they had already coordinated with the entrepreneurs selling firecrackers, and all had agreed with the police and their respective barangay offices to follow the ban religiously.
Those caught selling or using banned firecrackers will have their firecrackers confiscated. If they still disobey even after a few warnings, the police will report the sellers to the LGU (local government unit), and a revocation of their business permit is possible, said Oriol.
He said the measure is aimed at preventing firecracker-related injuries in celebrating Christmas and New Year.
He encouraged people to cooperate with the authorities and the government and use other methods of making noise to celebrate the festivity of the holidays, such as using hornpipes (torotot).
Explosion
The selling of firecrackers in Mandaue was prohibited following an explosion in December 2009 in its designated “firecracker zone” in the reclamation area that killed three people and injured six others.
It was in 2017 when then mayor Luigi Quisumbing formally declared a ban on firecrackers in all 27 barangays in the city.
The ban was in accordance with then President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 28, also issued in 2017, to regulate the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices in the country.