Banned firecrackers renamed 'Pacquiao,' 'Marquez' to avoid detection

To elude detection and confiscation, some illegal firecrackers have been renamed by their makers and distributors, prompting the police to intensify its crackdown on these hazards. A report on dzBB radio quoted Philippine National Police-Community Relations Unit head Director Lina Sarmiento as saying that some vendors had repackaged or renamed illegal firecrackers to pass them off as legitimate. Among the examples the report cited are piccolo, which has been renamed "Pacquiao" (or Pacquiao-Ultramaa), and five-star, renamed "Marquez," Pacquiao's Mexican nemesis. The piccolo, banned since 2007, has been the leading cause of firecracker-related injuries in the past several years, especially among children, according to the Department of Health (DOH). A box of Pacquiao-Ultramaa contains 20 sticks of the firecracker, according to a report on GMA News TV's "News to Go." The label on the box claims they were made in Bulacan, but according to the DOH, they were likely manufactured abroad and smuggled into the country. "It's considered banned because it's actually imported. As you can see [it says] made in Bulacan. Wala po tayong ginagawang 'made in Bulacan,' it's called 'made in the Philippines.' So this actually comes from China, it's actually smuggled in," DOH Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa explained at a briefing with Aquino Sunday. According to Herbosa, 59 percent of child firecracker victims were injured by piccolos. "Marurunong 'yung mga nagbebenta ng paputok because they chose to sell a kind of firecracker that is cheap, hindi kailangan sindihan ng posporo so sa isang bata na walang posporo, walang pera, ang access [ng piccolo] mataas kasi ikikiskis mo lang," DOH assistant secretary Eric Tayag told GMA News Online. "Ang problema, hindi pa developed reflexes nila. So ang bata nasa curious stage, so when they try to scratch [the piccolo] at wala silang makitang apoy na visible, they will scratch it again. Little do they know, nag-umpisa na iyong ignition noon, so when they scratch it again, it’s too late for them to throw it kasi sasabog na," he added. The Pacquiao-Ultramaa firecrackers were among those that have been confiscated by Valenzuela city police on New Year's Eve because the vendors were not carrying proper permits to sell firecrackers. "Kahit hindi siya illegal, basta po wala tayong permit, wala tayong permit na manggagaling po sa PNP or sa FEO (Firearm and Explosive Office) ay huhulihin po natin kung sino man ang magbebenta," Chief Inspector Fidel Fortaleza said in the "News to Go" report. — Amanda Lago/KBK, GMA News