Firecracker business down 30% due to bomb threats

MALOLOS, Bulacan — Last month’s bomb attacks in Zamboanga City and Metro Manila have caused a serious decline in production in this province’s pyrotechnics and fireworks industry.

According to Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PPMDAI) president Celso Cruz, production of fireworks manufacturers has fallen by at least 30 percent since the police regulated the sale of explosive materials used in making fireworks in an effort to prevent further bomb attacks.

Cruz said business has slowed at a time when it should be going full throttle – in the last quarter of the year as the Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations approach.

"Buyers have also been cautious because police have also started a crackdown on fireworks, especially those with a higher explosive content," Cruz added.

Bulacan’s fireworks dealers, he said, are having a hard time distributing firecrackers and other pyrotechnics because of the present peace and order situation. Some provincial governments are even mulling the imposition of a firecracker ban as Davao City did immediately after the Zamboanga blasts.

"We are fearing the other provinces will do what Davao did," Cruz added.

He added that what the pyrotechnic industry needs is a serious awareness campaign that will inform the public about the proper use of fireworks and pyrotechnics — instead of the fear generated among fireworks buyers by local authorities banning or confiscating these products.

The PPMDAI has coordinated with the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the awareness campaign on the production, sale and use of fireworks to prevent accidents.

"Right from the start, we have imposed stringent measures with our members and, since then, we have continuously sought the assistance of the police with regards to the regulation and apprehension of illegal (fireworks) manufacturers that are reportedly being financed by some unscrupulous factory owners and dealers," Cruz told The STAR.

Police officials in Central Luzon warned fireworks manufacturers and dealers in Bulacan that terrorist organizations might take advantage of the increased demand for firecrackers this holiday season to acquire bomb components they may use to sow terror in neighboring Metro Manila.

Bulacan is the unofficial firecracker capital of the Philippines, with the largest number of firecracker factories in the towns of Bocaue, Sta. Maria and Baliuag.