Another year will pass before…

Eight hundred four, and most likely still counting. This the current number of those injured by firecrackers as people all over the country welcomed the new year in the usual manner. Twentyeight have been hit by stray bullets, with one fatality - a three-month-old baby from Ilocos Sur. Of course, the likelihood of finding the idiot who fired the gun is unlikely, as neither the PNP nor the NBI have a very good ballistic record of all the guns in the country. Not to mention that the incident happened in a province reeking with warlords.

According to the DOH, firecracker- related injuries have risen by as much as 40 percent this year. I mentioned that it may actually be a result of a good economy but don't quote me on that. The fact is, more people did not heed the usual warnings about piccolos and pyrotechnics that should be classified as explosives or even dynamite. An untrained mind just cannot absorb that kind of a warning without pictures. Much like a person only willing to take a look at a book with pictures. The DOH did away with graphic images of firecracker injuries and went the " charity- guilt" route, asking people to just donate to the Yolanda victims instead of buying fireworks. I question the wisdom of that campaign knowing that most injuries are sustained by children of the low to very low income class. Like they watch a lot of TV during their spare time.

The DOH is also quick to point out that generally, the injuries this year were not as serious as the past one's. But that matters little to the parents of those children whose hands or fingers were blown away, and there are some, or whose eyes are no longer able to see, or some other disability or disfigurement. What the DOH should concentrate on is the number, and not the quality of the injuries. The same is being said about victims of stray bullets. There are less this year but again, that doesn't matter to the parents of the three-month-old baby who was killed. The fact is, there are victims in spite of all the taping of the guns and all.

Another year will most definitely pass before the authorities once again talk about banning firecrackers and firing guns during the new year. That's how it is with the Philippine government. The issues just have to be current for the authorities to " work" on. As of today, nobody knows who fired the shot that killed Stephanie Nicole Ella last year. The injured children may shun firecrackers, although some will just not get it. While those who fired their guns, even if they know they injured or even killed someone, just won't care for as long as they are not caught. And how can they be caught indeed? You might as well curse the heavens for raining bullets.

If anything is to be done about this annual counting of the injured, then it should be done now, and not just during the holidays. The concerned authorities know all of the factories that produce illegal firecrackers like the piccolo and the explosives, but have they been shut down? No. Why not? There are probably millions of reasons. And that's how it is going to be, until the next new year's revelry. Hope and pray that you do not become a victim yourself, or someone very close to you. That's all we can do if nothing else can be done.

And hope is the essence of a new year, isn't it?

‘ If anything is to be done about this annual counting of the injured, then it should be done

now, and not just during the holidays’