The Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) on Monday reminded the public that the ban on firecrackers and pyrotechnics remains in full force here regardless of the occasion.
Col. Rexmel Reyes, ZCPO director, issued the reminder after a shipment of some PHP10,000 worth of firecrackers was intercepted at the Integrated Bus Terminal (IBT) in Barangay Divisoria, this city.
Reyes said Monday the ban is pursuant to City Ordinance 431, the Firecracker Ban Ordinance of 2014—Banning the Use, Sale, Possession, Distribution, Storage, and Manufacture of Firecrackers and Pyrotechnic Devices within the Territorial Jurisdiction of Zamboanga City.
“The ban also includes the use of methane or gas canons locally known as ‘boga’ or bamboo canon,” Reyes said.
He said that Section 5 of City Ordinance 431 states that “Any person or business establishment found to be using, selling, possessing, distributing, storing and manufacturing firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices in violation of this Ordinance shall be penalized by a fine of not less than PHP1,000 nor more than PHP5,000 or imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.”
The ZCPO’s Station 5 reported that the shipment of the PHP10,000 worth of firecrackers was intercepted Saturday evening when the X-ray operator noticed some suspicious items inside the baggage of an arriving passenger.
The firecrackers consisting of 90 reams came from Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay and intended to be brought to Malamawi Island, Isabela City, Basilan.
The firecrackers and its owner, who failed to show documents, were taken to the ZCPO’s Station 5 for proper disposition.
Source: Philippines News Agency