QUEZON CITY, Dec. 22 (PIA) -- Public interest group EcoWaste Coalition is fully supporting the ban on firecrackers and fireworks, even as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said on Monday night that he might implement a total ban on firecrackers, but has yet to announced it with finality.
EcoWaste campaigner Thony Dizon said aside from preventing spikes in air pollution and accidents nationwide, discontinuing such kind of celebration would help curb COVID-19 spread.
"People tend to congregate where firecracker use and fireworks are. That doesn't promote social distancing," Dizon emphasized.
He noted that people could still welcome the New Year with a bang through alternative and physically distanced activities, such as blowing horns and playing upbeat music.
Social distancing, wearing of face masks, and frequent washing of hands are the government's basic health protocols against COVID-19.
The government came up with such protocols to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, which lurks in droplets expelled by infected persons through coughing, sneezing, and speaking.
The EcoWaste earlier proposed to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) a nationwide ban on the use of firecrackers and staging fireworks in welcoming 2021.
Firecracker use and fireworks displays endanger the environment and public health, EcoWaste said.
"Money for firecrackers and fireworks can otherwise be used for truly important purposes instead," Dizon said, noting that it could be spent to provide necessities for victims of disasters, hazard pay for front-line workers, or seed capital for employees retrenched amid the onslaught of Covid-19.
EcoWaste, he said, is hoping the government would eventually make the proposed ban permanent.
He, however, pointed out the need to help manufacturers of firecrackers and fireworks paraphernalia shift to other businesses.
Dizon reiterated that lighting firecrackers and fireworks emit air pollutants that weaken the immune system, raising people's risk for respiratory ailments, such as COVID-19.
"Exposure to toxic pollutants emitted from the bursting of firecrackers and fireworks is dangerous to everyone, especially the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, including those afflicted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart problems, diabetes and other illnesses as they tend to develop more severe symptoms of COVID-19," EcoWaste said.
Dizon said EcoWaste is looking forward to soon receiving the IATF-EID's feedback regarding the proposed ban, particularly as people this time of the year generally begin preparing for the New Year's Eve celebration. (PIA NCR)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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