I was one of those kids who were absolutely scared of loud noises and fire, and even in my mid-fifties, I’m still not a fan. This fear has influenced my stance on firecrackers, and I’m perfectly fine with banning them where I live. The city of Davao, where I reside, has had a ban on the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession, and use of all firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices within city limits for the past 25 years.
There have been proposals to amend this ban from time to time, but one notable instance was during Davao City’s hosting of the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2006. The Department of Tourism requested then Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to make an exception for the next host country, Singapore, which wanted to have a fireworks display during the closing ceremony. However, Mayor Duterte stood firm, stating that if he made an exception for the national government or a foreign government, he would have to grant the same to anyone who made the same request.
As the city mayor’s chief-of-staff at the time, I had to communicate this decision to the DOT and the government of Singapore, who presented persuasive arguments but ultimately had to find an alternative. The closing ceremony was held at Waterfront Insular Hotel, and the fireworks were viewed from the Island Garden City of Samal, which is outside the coverage of Davao City’s ordinance. The fireworks were even flown to Butuan and traveled by land to Panabo and then by boat to Samal to avoid Davao City, highlighting the seriousness of the firecracker ban.
The idea of banning firecrackers started when Mayor Duterte served as city mayor from 1997-1998 and then again from 2001. During his first term, he was approached by many people with health-related concerns, including an old lady who was struggling to afford cancer treatment after her husband’s death. Mayor Duterte was moved by her story and realized that many people were dying due to poverty rather than their illnesses. When he discovered that a significant amount of the city’s budget was allocated for firecracker-related accidents, he decided to use that budget to augment the “Lingap para sa Mahirap” program and ordered the person in charge of public safety to find ways to lessen firecracker-related accidents.
By January 1998, Mayor Duterte found out that firecracker-related accidents were getting worse, and he initially wanted to ban only the most dangerous ones. However, he was advised that a selective ban would be difficult to regulate and enforce, and it would need an ordinance for proper implementation. When he came back as city mayor in 2001, one of his priority executive orders was banning firecrackers, and the city ordinance followed a year later on October 15, 2002. Since then, there has been no need for another line item budget for firecracker-related accidents in the city.
For those who want to amend the firecracker ban ordinance to have a controlled, community-based fireworks display, I suggest they do what the government of Singapore did in 2006: go somewhere else where it is not banned.
