What a waste: 6 dead, 103 injured in New Year’s Eve fun

By Philip Tubeza, Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: January 02, 2011

MANILA, Philippines—The country welcomed the New Year Saturday in usual boisterous fashion with firecrackers and celebratory gunfire that left at least 546 people, mostly children, injured.

Police and firemen were also kept busy throughout the night as a series of fires erupted at various sites in Metro Manila and parties led to brawls and stabbing incidents.

Preliminary data from the health department on Saturday said the number of firecracker and stray bullet victims increased slightly this year to 546, with more than one-third of the victims being children aged 10 and below.

Police reported six deaths from violent fights, 103 firecracker-related incidents and one “stray-bullet” victim who died.

Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said there were 546 injuries reported from December 21 up to early Saturday, including 518 firecracker injuries, 20 reported stray-bullet victims (the police figure is 15), and eight people who fell ill after ingesting firecrackers.

“This is 19 percent higher than the previous five years on the average and 7 percent higher if compared with last year,” Villaverde told a press conference.

The number of bystanders who were injured also increased to 42 percent of the total number of victims.

More than half of the cases reported were in the National Capital Region (301, or 58 percent) followed by Ilocos (35 cases, or 7 percent), and Western Visayas (29, or 6 percent).

95% children

Health Undersecretary David Lozada said 95 percent of those injured were either children, drunk men or spectators who veered too close to fireworks.

The top three firecrackers that caused the injuries were the “piccolo” (182 cases, or 35 percent), “kwitis” (74, or 14 percent), and “pla-pla” (32, or 6 percent).

“Piccolo was still the most critical because it accounted for more than a third of the victims and most of these affected were children,” he said.

Asked why the number of victims increased despite the government campaign against the use of firecrackers, Metro Manila police chief Nicanor Bartolome said: “Maybe our best might not still be enough.”

“We conducted raids but there were still many who went underground. We did our best,” Bartolome said.

Total ban pushed

Villaverde said a final count of the injured would be available only after January 5. Last year, the total count reached 1,036 victims, 990 of them from firecrackers.

But one thing is certain, young children accounted for the highest number of the victims of the superstitious Filipino custom, influenced by Chinese tradition, of making extreme noise by exploding firecrackers to drive away evil and misfortune.

“Most of those affected were children, children aged 1 to 10 years old. They constitute 33 percent, or one-third, of fireworks related injuries,” Villaverde said.

Those aged 11 to 20 accounted for 30 percent of the victims while 18 percent were aged 21 to 30 years.

Villaverde said 78 percent had blast burns “without amputation,” 6 percent with amputation, while 16 percent had eye injuries.

The health official noted that this year as in years past, the DOH had pushed for a total ban on firecrackers, especially the most dangerous firecrackers.

“If you want zero percent (injuries), there should be a total ban on firecrackers and the prohibition in the use of guns. It also depends on the political will at the local level but this is a tradition that is very hard to eliminate,” he said.

Hospital scene

The DOH’s campaign against the use of firecrackers seemed to have been lost on some Metro residents who found themselves spending their first day of 2011 in a hospital.

The pre-revelry mood of the staff at the Jose Reyes R. Memorial Medical Center in Manila was immediately cut short a few hours before midnight, when victims of firecracker-related incidents and others began streaming into the hospital.

“Papa, it hurts! It hurts!” cried 9-year-old Gerlin Nuguid as she held up the right leg that had been burnt by sparklers.

Another child, Marian Gutierrez, 6, sustained burns in both her legs. The two children were passive bystanders watching the fireworks display that their neighbors had put up.

Minutes later, 22-year-old Dexter Villarante barged into the admitting room, with an almost dismembered bandaged right arm soaked in blood. He was a victim of a “super lolo,” which prematurely exploded on his hand.

By about 11 p.m., the hospital had recorded 42 firecracker-related incidents since it began its compulsory monitoring on Dec. 24.

One of the worst cases was that of a certain Bong Ilaw, 30. He had to undergo eye surgery after a firecracker exploded in his face, while he was reaching for something in a cabinet.

A certain Romeo Vasquez, 52, the namesake of a famous late actor, had to have his left ring finger amputated after a pla-pla he lit exploded prematurely.

Generally peaceful

Philippine National Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations all over the country were “generally peaceful ... with a marked improvement in the number of accidents”.

The PNP reported a total of 103 firecracker-related injuries around the country from Dec. 31, 2010, to Jan. 1, 2011. (The DOH figure of 546 was from December 21 to January 1.)

PNP Chief Director General Raul Bacalzo attributed the improvement to the “vigilance of the police in enforcing prohibitions against illegal firecrackers and indiscriminate firing of guns, the heightened awareness of the public through government and NGO information efforts, and the inter-agency coordination by health officials, local governments and law enforcement.”

The PNP also said a total of P1.505 million worth of property was damaged from Dec. 16, 2010, to the first day of 2011, down from the P2.75 million reported for the previous period.

Decrease in stray bullets

According to Bartolome, there was a decrease in the number of people hit by stray bullets this new year.

He said the 15 incidents reported this year was less than that of 2010 and 2009, which recorded 33 and 39 cases, respectively.

Of the 15 cases this year, one died. Bartolome identified the fatality as Myrna Morino, from the Bagumbayan area of Taguig, who was shot 15 minutes into the new year.

Another stray-bullet victim reported in Pasay City was a 14-year-old girl who was watching a New Year countdown on television when she was shot in the foot.

There were several crimes reported in southern Metro Manila at the height of the New Year’s Eve revelry.

Three people were reportedly injured when a man went on a shooting spree in Pulang Lupa, Las Piñas. Their names were not immediately known.

In Pasay City, a reveler was reported injured after being hit by a motorcycle shortly after he lighted a firecracker on Aurora Boulevard.

The reveler, initially identified as Fernando Teroy, was running away from a firecracker he lighted when a motorcycle driven by Rommel Apostol hit him, police said.

Now seemingly a part of the annual New Year’s Eve revelry, fires were reported in various sites including a building at the Philippine Normal University on Ayala Boulevard, a four-story building in Sta. Cruz, two residences in Sampaloc and Tondo, and a garment factory between Parañaque and Muntinlupa. There were no reports of casualties from the fires.

Violent incidents

Police also reported at least six deaths from violent incidents on New Year’s Eve.

According to a Manila Police District (MPD) report, Fernando Rivera, 57, of 1748 Maceda St. in Sampaloc, was robbed and shot dead by two motorcycle-riding gunmen while walking on Maria Clara Street on Friday night.

At around 8:30 p.m., Elpidio de Juan Jr., 28, of 2824 Molave St., Tondo, was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men. De Juan’s housemates, a 10-year-old boy and 44-year-old Reynalda Talamdon, were wounded in the attack.

In the Old Sta Mesa area, Ryner Pallones, 28, was stabbed to death by a still unidentified attacker while walking along Narra Street.

Just an hour before midnight, two men with a long-standing feud ended up killing each other on a street in Tondo. Ronnel Abuloc, 30, and Gail Navarro, 35, a construction worker, died while being treated in hospital.

A simple argument over firecrackers drove a 33-year-old street gang member to stab to death his teenage housemate before dawn Saturday.

Henry Villarin, a member of the Bahala na Gang, of Sta. Ana, fled after allegedly killing 19-year-old Rodel Rodriguez.

Police said the drunken Villarin, who had been exploding firecrackers outside his home, was angered when Rodriguez repeatedly stamped on his firecrackers “so he could explode them himself.”—With reports from Alcuin Papa, Tina G. Santos and Jeannette I. Andrade
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