By Jennifer P. Rendon
Around P80,000 worth of firecrackers bearing no proper label and fake labels were seized at a stall just a stone’s throw away from the office of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Iloilo City morning of Dec 29, 2022.
Members of the BFP-Iloilo City and the Regional Civil Security Unit (RCSU)-6 confiscated three boxes of kwitis or mini rockets and seven sacks of super candle bombs or “kamara” from the stall of Nestor Muñoz at Muelle Loney Street, City Proper district.
“Since the confiscated items have no labels, they’re more likely to be illegally-manufactured,” RCSU-6 chief Lieutenant Colonel Robert Petate said.
BFP personnel were alerted as Muñoz had been openly selling the unlabeled items at his stall, just 100 meters from the fire department.
Some of the seized items turned out to have labels but these were fakes.
“The owner failed to present purchase receipts from the manufacturer as proof of legitimacy,” Petate said.
The confiscation was the biggest this Holiday season all over the region.
RCSU-6 records indicated that Muñoz is one of the 82 licensed retailers in Iloilo City.
He also secured a permit from the local government unit (LGU) to do his trade.
At the time of the confiscation, he was the sole retailer at the Muelle Loney area, which is one of the three designated firecrackers selling zones.
The other two are on C1 Road in Arevalo district and in Buhang, Jaro.
With his violation, Muñoz runs the risk of his permit being revoked.
BFP-Iloilo City personnel also seized 2,000 pieces of candle bombs or kamara at Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Firemen were conducting an inspection along the C1 Road at Barangay Sooc when they spotted four sacks of kamara being loaded on a tricycle.
Authorities asked Elvira Villanueva for the manufacturer’s permit of her firecrackers, but she failed to present any.
She later revealed that she got them from a certain Arlene Mequila, who later admitted to authorities that they were making firecrackers sans any permit.
Meanwhile, Petate said there have been several confiscations made in other parts of the region.
“Usually these involved unlabeled firecrackers or pyrotechnic products or those that are not allowed for sale,” he said.
All confiscated will be simultaneously disposed of during the Nationwide Simultaneous Disposal of Illegal Firecrackers on Jan. 7, 2023 at Camp Delgado, Iloilo City.
