Amid the ongoing sale of firecrackers in Bacolod City, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) reminded local government units (LGUs) to adhere to Executive Order No. 28, signed earlier this year by President Rodrigo Duterte, which regulates the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnics.

PHO technical services chief, Dr. Jessie Cagas-Endofama, said LGUs must establish firework display areas in their respective barangays, which must be communicated to the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO).

The agency, meanwhile, is looking to advise the public to avoid firecrackers all together, with hopes it will bring down the number of firecracker-related injuries.

Earlier, the Bacolod City government ordered the city’s barangay captains to strictly adhere to the said order, with Executive Assistant Ernie Pineda suggesting barangay councils designate an area as a firecracker zone.

Once an area has been determined, barangay captains must inform the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the City Mayor’s Office, and the Sectoral Concerns Office, who will then provide that information to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the police./DGB, WDJ