New Year celebration in Palawan generally peaceful, says PPO

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=952473
• Tuesday, January 3, 2017

By Grace Ann N. Belostrino [(PNA), LAP/CARF/GANB/SSC]

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Jan. 3 (PNA) -- The celebration of the New Year in Palawan was generally peaceful and with only less than a dozen firecracker-related injuries, according to the Provincial Police Office (PPO) Tuesday.

PPO spokesperson Insp. Ric Ramos said that except for the isolated Taytay blasting incident that happened on December 28, no other “untoward incident” was recorded in any of Palawan’s 23 municipalities.

“We thank our local government unit officials for their cooperation, and for positively replying to our call for a peaceful and secured celebration of the New Year,” Ramos said, adding no policeman or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was recorded to have been involved in firing their service firearms.

“We are proud of our police force in Palawan because of the discipline they displayed. Remember that we didn’t do muzzle-taping, and despite that, no one fired his or her service firearm. That’s an achievement for us,” he said.

In related news in Puerto Princesa, seven firecracker-related injuries were confirmed Tuesday by Dr. Louie Ocampo of the Ospital ng Palawan (ONP) to have been recorded.

Ocampo said on December 25, three individuals were brought to the ONP after suffering from premature ignition of the notorious piccolo firecracker.

Four were added to the number shortly on the eve of December 31, also due to piccolo, and one because of Dragon skyrockets, locally known as “kwitis.”

The number, he said, is a big mark down from 2015’s more than a dozen cases recorded.

“This means that the campaign of the DOH (Department of Health) for an incident-free New Year’s celebration was successful here in Palawan,” he said.