Mandaue disaster office on red alert for New Year

CEBU, Philippines – The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Mandaue City is on red alert status during the New Year's revelry.

CDRRMO head Felix Suico said their office has set up hotlines to respond to emergencies from December 31 to January 1 while an ambulance will be on standby at the Bantay Mandaue 161 Command Center where 14 operators and paramedics will be stationed.

CDRMMO'S hotline numbers are as follows: 161, 345-0652, 346-0784, 344-3891 and 230-4500 while the red alert status will be lifted at noon of January 1.

Suico added that his office has launched a campaign dubbed as "Oplan Pabuto" to raise awareness on the dangers of firecrackers but he said during Christmas they still noticed children playing with firecrackers although law enforcers have been going after stores selling firecrackers.

Earlier, the Mandaue City Fire department has also announced that there is a "no firecracker zone" in the city.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Roy Garcia, operations chief of Mandaue City Fire Department, said since there is a "no firecracker zone" in the city, no permits were issued allowing individuals to sell firecrackers these holiday season in the city.

He said since no permits have been issued to allow vendors to sell firecrackers, there will be apprehensions since these are considered illegal.

Garcia said the fire department has to do it in order to avoid fire incidents during the holidays.

Garcia also said although the selling of pyrotechnics in the city is not prohibited, they should still be inspected to see if they have complied with the provisions stipulated in the clearances issued to vendors.

Before they can sell pyrotechnics products, vendors should first put a signage in their stalls that says "no testing and no smoking." Their stalls should also have water ready for any untoward incident and their stall equipped with a fire extinguisher.

Garcia said so far there were only three malls in the city that secured clearances from their office to allow them to sell pyrotechnics and these are Parkmall, J Center Mall and the Insular Mall.

He added although these malls were allowed to sell these items,  pyrotechnics should not be displayed inside the mall and sale should only be made outside the establishment to avoid fire incidents.