What Firecracker Injuries During Christmas And New Year May Tell Us About Failipino Culture!

Firecrackers seem to be integrated into Christmas and New Year. However there's been a list of prohibited firecrackers that continue to persist in Failipino culture, even if some Filipino authorities have already and clearly BANNED THEM for being too dangerous. The move of having strict raids against firecrackers dwindled down firecracker related injuries. Now I could also take what firecracker injuries may tell us about Failipino culture. This can all be linked to the misguided notion of happiness by the Failipino. Remember getting injured by firecrackers is NOT more fun in the Philippines nor anywhere else around the world.

Firecracker injuries happen because of the bad habit of not following guidelines. One may consider the problem from not following the GUIDELINES in the package to actually selling dangerous firecrackers prohibited by law. Some of these are like the watusi, piccolo, super lolo, triangle, mother rocket, Judas belt, big bawang, kwiton, kabasi and "Goodbye Philippines". Some people end up buying unregulated firecrackers BECAUSE they feel like the Christmas and New Year is never complete without them.

Treating firecrackers as a necessity for celebrations may reflect on culture of what Failipinos are known for. Any decent Pinoy in the Philippines or abroad may complain about their Failipino counterparts. In Singapore alone, a proposal to make a Filipino-only bus happened because of some noisy Failipinos. Fortunately some decent Pinoys became a reason why the proposal never happened. However, some people end up hating Filipinos in general because of the Failipinos among Filipinos. The problem that was also addressed by Singapore was not only their making picnics everywhere but their being so noisy in public. The necessity for firecrackers may be because of their culture of being very noisy. It's no wonder it's very hard to get some sleep whenever a celebration happens because firecrackers are VERY NOISY.

When firecrackers are treated as a necessity, they would try to secure them even if it comes from a sleazy dealer or from the list of banned firecrackers. This results to breaking GUIDELINES. Never mind that the local authorities have banned this firecracker from that firecracker. Never mind that the local Department of Health branch has already warned of the dangers of this firecracker and that firecracker. Never mind all the gory videos and pictures shown of firecracker-related accidents shown before and after the incidents. The warnings have been flashing too many times but still, Failipinos have their culture of hardheadedness which manages to make every good Pinoy ashamed of them.

Guidelines are also ignored on purpose even on registered firecrackers (which have instructions and warnings attached to them). A legitimate firecracker has instructions like a certain distance before lighting the fuse. It may write, "Please DO NOT light at a short distance and please unroll the fuse first." There is a reason why the fuse of the firecracker was long. It's to keep a distance between the user and the firecracker. Also it warns where to use and not to use. However, some people just ignore the manual because for them, "No one reads the manual." For them, they want excitement and they find following rules to be a boring thing. For Failipinos, following guidelines kills the fun never mind they can't have any more fun when the consequences show up. Like think, people with bad manners will always be a cause of frustration. In short, there is always a lack of discipline involved. For them discipline equals boring and safety rules may want to make them commit suicide.

Likewise, not following guidelines can be a reason for firecracker related injuries. Why did the casualties happen? It may go to stupid reasons like somebody lit the fireworks CLOSE TO FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES or even close to his/her face. It can also be the common ones where they know that these firecrackers are banned BUT they use it anyway. One may consider the consequences like how children got poisoned by watusi. Others may think of the stupidity of parents who let their children play with firecrackers. There's a lot of stupid reasons why firecracker injuries happen. All these can still be traced to NOT FOLLOWING GUIDELINES. This is the typical Pinoy or should I say Failipino dysfunction.

Firecracker injuries may also reflect on laziness on the part of authority figures. It may also go to some police officers who are sleeping on the job when they know Christmas and New Year are indeed times of disasters with firecrackers going off left and right. Should I mention perhaps it's time to raise the penalties for improper use of fireworks? I suggest the fine of selling illegal fireworks should go beyond PHP 20,000 and prison sentence may go beyond six months depending on how much injury has happened. Unless safety rules are being implemented properly, I don't see any reason why tourism should increase. It can be a real tourist butthurt if they spent New Year in the Philippines and got injured by a Failipino who recklessly threw a firecracker at them and said, "Don't worry, it's more fun in the Philippines."

Fortunately some decent Pinoys are doing their best to keep New Year safe without killing the fun. For example, some of them have been vigilant in reporting illegal firecrackers and discouraging their children from getting involved. Some Pinoy cops oppose the corruption of the Pinoy National Patola and won't hesitate to arrest any illegal firecracker vendor. They even splash the explosives with water to make them defective. It was done in Cebu and with that in mind, Cebu has become in a way, a bit of Singapore in the Philippines. When safety rules are rightfully enforced without being unreasonable, it creates a safe yet fun environment.