Police to limit raw materials supply of pyrotechnic makers

ANGELES CITY — Pyrotechnic manufacturers have sought the importation of some 5,000 tons of raw materials for the holidays, but police authorities vowed to limit their supply to only 600 kilos each.

SPO4 Roque Bugarin, chief of the firearms and explosives unit of the Central Luzon police based at Camp Olivas, told The STAR yesterday that they have imposed a limit on the raw materials’ supply of at least six pyrotechnic manufacturers in the region for the safety of the public.

He said most of the import requests are for ammonium nitrate, barium, and ammonium chlorate, the basic ingredients for pyrotechnics, although a small percentage of the ammonium nitrate imports are for agricultural purposes.

SPO4 Jimmy Elefane, chief of the explosives and pyrotechnics office of the Bulacan police, said 34 pyrotechnic manufacturers and 103 dealers of pyrotechnic products have so far applied for permits.

Celso Cruz, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc. (PPMDA), said they have only 60 members nationwide and has so far authorized only about 500 dealers for their products.

Reached by phone in Tagum City, Davao del Norte where he was conducting a seminar on pyrotechnic safety, Cruz said the PPMDA has a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine National Police (PNP) prescribing that only dealers and retailers who have undergone safety seminars conducted by his association are granted police permits to sell pyrotechnics.

"The MOA was signed way back in 2000 and this time, we want to see it implemented, that is why we are conducting this safety seminar for dealers in Mindanao," he said.

Cruz said the seminars tackle the safe handling and storage of pyrotechnic products.

Because of the safety seminar requirement, the police list of authorized dealers nationwide has been reduced from 1,000 to only 500 to date, he said.

He said about 95 percent of raw materials for pyrotechnic products are imported, mostly from mainland China.

Cruz lamented the ban on the use of pyrotechnic products in Davao City, saying that Republic Act 7183, or the firecrackers law signed in 1993, legalizes such products.

Bugarin said the police have been closely monitoring the movement of imported pyrotechnic raw materials to guard against their use by terrorist groups.

"So far, there are no indications that terrorists are poised to use the pyrotechnics industry for their advantage," he said.

Cruz, however, said raw materials used in pyrotechnics are of the "low explosive" type.

"It would probably take a truckload of pyrotechnic materials to produce the impact of half a kilo of TNT or C4 materials used by terrorists," he said.

Elefane said the 600-kilo allocation for each fireworks manufacturer would be released on a staggered basis.

"We could release an initial 300 kilos and then conduct an inventory of their finished products before we release the rest," he said.

Cruz, Bugarin and Elefane advised holiday revelers not to patronize illegally manufactured pyrotechnic products.

"They could fizzle out prematurely because of their sand content (which) makes them heavy, or blow up in your face," Elefane said.

Cruz and Bugarin said legal pyrotechnic products carry labels showing their brand and the name, address, and telephone number of their manufacturer.

Elefane, however, said some illegal pyrotechnic manufacturers also label their products. "In case of doubt, get in touch with the police," he said.

Cruz said the country’s pyrotechnic industry started in Bulacan in 1867. "One Valentin Sta. Ana was noted to be the first to learn the craft from the parish priest of Sta. Maria (Bulacan) that year," he said.

He said the priest usually fired stick rockets or kwitis in his parish to rouse parishioners from sleep for the traditional Misa de Gallo, and he later taught Sta. Ana how to make them.

Sta. Ana’s sons Valerio and Fernando later opened the Santa Ana Fireworks Factory in Balasing in Sta. Maria in 1938.

The factory eventually shut down, but in 1941, Fernando put up his own factory called Victory Fireworks, which has survived to the present, Cruz said.

Fernando’s workers subsequently put up their own factories in Bocaue, Baliuag, Norzagaray and Angat towns.