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By Dino Balabo, Central Luzon Bureau
First of three parts
MALOLOS CITY—Every year the crackle and
thunder of firecrackers reverberate through the final minutes of
December 31, a boisterous welcome for the New Year meant to ward off
malevolent spirits and attract luck and prosperity.
Mention firecrackers and Bulacan immediately
comes to mind. The manufacture of pyrotechnics has long been the
province’s major cottage industry, fueled by the insatiable
appetite of Filipinos to ring in the New Year with as much noise as
they could muster.
Sadly, firecrackers are also associated with
mangled fingers, flash fires and explosions obliterating backyard
pyrotechnics factories resulting in fatalities.
Accidents have long tainted the reputation of
Bulacan’s firecracker makers. They realize that the only way for
the industry to survive is for them to improve the quality of their
products to better compete with imported firecrackers.
The word pyrotechnics refers to the art, craft
and science of fireworks. It is said that the birthplace of
fireworks is China.
Legend has it that a Chinese cook accidentally
mixed three common kitchen ingredients: potassium nitrate, sulfur
and charcoal, and when he lighted the mixture a mass of colorful
flames burst forth. The cook also noticed that if the mixture was
burned when enclosed in the hollow of a bamboo stalk, there was a
tremendous explosion.
The first application of this technology was for
entertainment. Slowly the theory took root. The loud sound was
perfect for chasing away evil spirits and celebrating weddings,
victories in battles, eclipses and religious ceremonies.
From China, fireworks moved on to the West,
through explorers. Stories have it that Marco Polo brought this new
invention to the West from one of his many trips to China.
The Franciscan monk Roger Bacon, a master of
languages, mathematics, optics and alchemy recorded the earliest use
in England of gunpowder.
In one of his experiments in 1242 he wrote: “.
. . if you light it you will get thunder and lightning if you know
the trick.”
The first recorded use of fireworks in England
was at the wedding of Henry VII in 1486. They became very popular
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. James II was so pleased with
his coronation display that he knighted his fire master.
Gradually, the royal courts took up fireworks as
a favorite form of highlighting celebrations and festivities. Fire
masters soon became a much sought after commodity.
By the 14th-15th century, almost every European
country had its own version of fireworks and later, the Germans and
the British used them in battles.
In the Philippines, the pyrotechnics industry
had its roots in Bulacan. According to Arcadio “Ka Adiong” Santa
Ana, whose family is one of the pyrotechnics pioneers in the
province, the industry started as a family business and an
underground activity.
His grandfather, Valentin Santa Ana, learned the
craft of making fireworks from the parish priest of Santa Maria town
in 1867.
During that time, Ka Adiong said the priest used
kwitis or rockets to wake up parishioners for the start of the misa
de gallo.
Only specialists were allowed to manufacture,
use and handle fireworks, but the priest taught the older Santa Ana
the rudiments of pyrotechnics making until he mastered the craft,
which Santa Ana clandestinely practiced.
The Americans imposed a controlled ban in the
making of firecrackers, allowing it only during fiestas.
Santa Ana passed on his skill to his children,
one of whom is Valerio, the father of Ka Adiong.
In 1938 the Santa Ana brothers opened the Santa
Ana Fireworks factory in Balasing, Santa Maria, Bulacan.
By 1941 they moved further east, to Pulong
Buhangin. After war, the company broke up and Valerio’s brother
Fernando, put up his own company, Victory Fireworks, which continues
to manufacture fireworks to this day.
While pyrotechnics production was generally done
in the eastern part of Santa Maria town, Bocaue town, on the western
side of the province, became the trading center. Ka Adiong decided
to build a factory, the Universal Fireworks, in that town in 1954.
The company broke up again, and in 1960, Ka
Adiong decided to establish Viva Fireworks, which he still manages.
He noted that while the manufacture of fireworks
remains illegal, many entrepreneurs set up their own companies
although they only knew the rudiments of the trade.
“Even while Bulacan was building a reputation
in fireworks making, it was also notorious for the accidents in
firecracker factories caused mainly by the lack of safety
measures,” Ka Adiong said.
In 1966 the fireworks industry was legalized
after an explosion in a Meycauayan factory killed 26 workers. The
law was designed to prevent similar tragedies, but in the years that
followed, the number of deadly accidents rose.
At the start of the martial law era, fireworks
were banned, but the industry went underground again. Despite strict
measures, the fireworks industry endured, though its manufacture and
advancement stagnated.
An explosion in Bocaue in 1985 wiped out at
least 60 stores and left 14 dead. This served as a loud wake-up call
for Congress to pass a law.
In 1992 Congress ratified Republic Act 7183,
which regulated the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of
firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.
A year after the law was passed, the Philippine
Pyrotechnics, Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., was formed
with Celso Cruz as its first president.
A chemical engineer, Cruz knew the dangers of
leaving the making of pyrotechnics to untrained workers. He and
other ppmdai members lobbied for further government support. The
efforts paid off, and the Bulacan Pyrotechnics Regulatory Board was
created.
More than 10 years after the law was introduced,
the Philippine pyrotechnics industry grew into a P400-million
industry with 368 licensed manufacturers and dealers, and more than
100,000 people depending on it for livelihood in Bulacan alone.
However, the old problem persists. Illegal
manufacturers drag the industry down even as licensed manufacturers
continue their quest for higher standards and good returns for their
investments.
(Continued tomorrow)
Part 2
|Conclusion
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