San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora announced that the city will not hold a community fireworks display to usher in the New Year on Saturday, Dec. 31.
Zamora made the announcement after the Metro Manila Council (MMC) passed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Resolution No. 22-22, series of 2022, which urges the different cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) to designate fireworks display zones in their respective localities.
The resolution was in line with Republic Act 7183 or the "Act regulating the sale, manufacture, distribution, and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices" during the holiday season.
"In San Juan, we are done with our fireworks display which we held last Dec. 2 in Pinaglabanan Shrine. Thus, there will be no more local government organized fireworks display on Dec. 31," Zamora said.
According to the MMC headed by Zamora, all mayors and government agencies agreed to regulate the use of firecrackers in the region after it saw an uptick in firecracker-related injuries.
"Kahit po sa tapat ng bahay ay hindi po pupwedeng magpaputok kung hindi po ito designated ng local government unit as firecracker zones. So kahit po nakabili sila ng legitimate na mga paputok ay hindi po pwedeng gamitin kung saan-saan (The public is prohibited from using firecrackers even if it's just outside their homes. Firecrackers are only allowed to be used at local government unit’s designated firecracker zones, which means that even though they have purchased legitimate firecrackers, those cannot be used anywhere else)," MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said in an interview with ABS-CBN.