By Ma. Teresa Montemayor
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said two cases of stray bullet injuries were recorded in the National Capital Region (NCR) on New Year’s eve.
In a media forum, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said one stray bullet incident happened in Tondo, Manila and the other one in Pasig City.
Philippine National Police Community Affairs and Development Division chief, Col. Angel Garcillano, said both are typical examples of stray bullet cases who were inside their houses.
“Without any apparent reason, they felt a warmth in part of their body, and they speculated they were hit by stray bullet,” he said. “This 2024, we have reduced the cases of stray bullets into 50 percent.”
Herbosa said this could be attributed to PNP’s annual drive to seal the guns of uniformed personnel prior to New Year revelry.
“Para hindi magkaroon ng firing, so, mukhang maganda, dati marami iyan eh (To avoid firing, so, it looks good, before there a lot of stray bullet cases),” he added.
Meanwhile, Garcillano noted that wide scope of information campaign by the DOH, PNP, and local government units proved to be effective in the reduction of stray bullet cases.
As of Thursday 6:00 a.m., the DOH recorded 534 fireworks-related injuries with four deaths.
One of the four who died was a 78-year-old male from Nueva Ecija province. He lit a Judas’ belt on Dec. 22 and died on Dec. 27, 2024.
“Nagkaroon siya ng (He had) accute respiratory failure secondary to health… pneumonia due to multiple injuries,” Herbosa said.
“Alam mo kapag above 70 ka at na-injure ka, mas mataas ang chances mong mamatay kase ang (You know when you’re above 70, you higher chances of dying because the) body cannot recover,” he added.
Herbosa said the DOH is yet to validate whether the other three deaths are related to fireworks.
Citing that fireworks-related deaths are preventable deaths, he said the DOH would push for total ban of fireworks or community fireworks display for future holidays. (PNA)
