New Year's eve in Negros Or. 4 hurt from revelry, no gun firing

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — At least four people were reported injured due to firecrackers at the height of the New Year's Eve celebration in Negros Oriental, official police records showed.

Three of the victims sustained injuries in Tanjay City and one and Dumaguete City (one) due to firecrackers, while the fourth one was hurt while playing with "boga-boga," an improvised cannon made of PVC pipe, in Sta. Catalina town, according to Supt. Alet Virtucio, OIC provincial police director.

Virtucio said that, while no victims of stray bullets were reported to his office this year, he however lamented that one of the victims in Tanjay City was a 5-year-old child who was not supposed to be allowed to play with firecrackers.

It was the parent's responsibility to monitor and prevent their children from playing with firecrackers, he said.

Except for the victim in Sta. Catalina who  almost lost a hand to the "boga-boga," the other victims sustained minor cuts and burns only, said Virtucio who, at the outset, described the Christmas and New Year celebrations in the province as generally peaceful.

The number of injuries during the New Year's celebration this year is lower than that of last year with five cases reported, Virtucio said, adding that there were no reports of indiscriminate firing of guns by any from the military, the police and civilians. (FREEMAN)