Pyrotechnics industry declines

MALOLOS CITY – Firecracker makers in Bulacan plans to continue modernizing the manufacturing of pyrotechnics as the local industry faces stiffer competition from other domestic and foreign traders.

Celso Cruz, the chairman of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., (PPMDAI) told The STAR that they have successfully tested the skills assessment of pyrotechnics manufacturers in Baliuag, Bulacan.

The skills assessment was conducted in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Pyrotechnics Regulatory Board (PRB) of Bulacan, and the members of PPMDAI.

Cruz said that the skills assessment included oral and written examination, and actual demonstration.

It also involved mixing of pyrotechnics ingredients like potassium nitrate, aluminum and others, preparation of safety fuse; loading of mixed composition; and wrapping and packaging of pyrotechnics products.

“We hope to standardize manufacture of pyrotechnics products through skills assessment and at the same time reduce injuries related to our products,” Cruz said.

He said since the enactment of Republic Act 7183 or the law that regulates the manufacture, distribution, and sales of pyrotechnics materials in 1992, they have been working towards the improvement of the commercial pyrotechnics industry that started in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, in the late 1800s when a Spanish priest taught a resident how to mix gun powder.

Bulacan craftsmen later started the commercial production of pyrotechnics that have grown into over P400 million industry today.

Cruz said firecracker making was banned during martial law years in the 1970s until it was legalized with the ratification of Republic Act 7183 in 1992.

Vimmie Erese, president of the PPMDAI, said smuggled pyrotechnics and the illegal production by local makers are killing the local firecracker industry.

Illegally manufactured pyrotechnics are the main causes of deaths and injuries during holiday revelry and the explosions of clandestine factories.