Firework-related injuries now at 91 —DOH

The number of firework-related injuries in the country climbed to 91 on Saturday.

According to the Department of Health’s (DOH) summary report from December 21 to 27, the country’s 91 firework-related injury tally remained 34% lower than the record within the same period in 2024.

Most cases were recorded in the National Capital Region with 40 cases, followed by Ilocos Region with 10 cases and Western Visayas with 8 cases. Majority of the victims were 10 to 14 year-old males.

The top causes of the injuries were 5-star, followed by unknown firecrackers, Boga, Kwitis, and Pla-pla.

“Karamihan po ng mga kaso ay dahil sa fireworks. Wala pong namatay sa ating rehistro, at sa ganitong panahon wala parin naitatala na nakalunok o nakakain ng Watusi or any other fireworks,” shared DOH Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo.

(Most of the cases are due to fireworks. There have been no deaths so far on our registry, and at this time there are still no cases of swallowing or ingestion of Watusi or any other fireworks.)

Despite this, he shared that there are now 2 victims who needed to have their fingers amputated due to injuries sustained from firecrackers 5-star and Whistlebomb, while there were also other victims who sustained eye injuries due to firecrackers.

“Marami pong pwede maging resulta ang pagsindi ng fireworks. Legal man o illegal, ang payo po ng Department of Health di po dapat humahawak ng fireworks ang kabataan,” Domingo advised.

(There are a lot of things that can result from lighting up fireworks. Whether it is legal or illegal, the Department of Health advises that the youth should not be handling fireworks.)

Road crash incidents

Meanwhile, DOH also recorded 331 road crash incidents during the holiday season, which was 8.56% lower than the same period in 2024.

Most patients were 20 to 24 year old males.

The tally noted that 73% of the incidents involved motorcycles, 83% of the victims had no safety accessories, and 12% appeared to be intoxicated.

DOH also said that there were now 168 cases of non-communicable diseases nationwide for the holiday season and that they have responded to 543 total calls to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) Hotline 1553.

Earlier, the DOH said they will be monitoring patient data during the holidays as part of their Ligtas Christmas campaign.

Focused cases will include patients with heart, stroke, or asthma attacks, road-crash victims, and firecracker-related injuries. —VAL, GMA Integrated News