The Philippines braced Sunday for its annual orgy of New Year's Eve merrymaking which leaves hundreds of people maimed by firecrackers or shot by bullets fired in the air by armed revelers. A total of 164 people have been injured by fireworks since the Christmas weekend, half of them in Manila, while one person was wounded by a stray bullet, according to the health department. President Benigno Aquino interrupted his Christmas holidays to meet with emergency services officials on government preparations for mass casualties, fires, and other potential mayhem from the often drunken revelry. The government reported 454 firecracker-related injuries from hospitals across the country as 2012 was welcomed, many of them children and drunk adults who ignored government warnings. At a meeting aired on national television Sunday, Aquino expressed concern over the sale of oversized firecrackers, and chastised officials at the meeting for failing to shut down factories and retailers making and selling them. "If you tossed that onto the road, would it damage the road as well?" he asked, interrupting a slide show on a frame that dealt with a giant 58-square-centimetre (nine-square-inch) firecracker called "Goodbye Philippines." Aquino was told it would, before saying that the noisy celebrations were therefore also responsible for damaging government property. Individual fireworks containing not more than 0.2 grams (0.007 ounces) of explosive material are allowed by law, but police told the meeting they had seized P11.9 million ($29,000) worth of illegal fireworks. "Please direct the [local government units] to explain how such a store can be selling regulated items without the necessary permits," an apparently irritated Aquino said. "How come we're filing cases [for the illegal sale of firecrackers] but we've not been shutting down the stores selling them?" the president added. The fire services representative at the meeting, metropolitan Manila fire inspector Renato Marcial, said firecrackers have triggered three blazes so far in the current Christmas holidays, compared to eight last year. "The Bureau of Fire Protection would like to appeal for a ban on firecrackers," Marcial told Aquino Source:- http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/288237/news/nation/phl-braces-for-bloody-new-year-celebrations
I've experienced the chaos that is New Year celebrations on the streets of Manila. I've also experienced New Year celebrations in Manila from the safety of a hotel and also from the relative safety of our house. I can look back on the experience of being 'on the streets of Manila' with less shock as the years pass. To call it revelry is interesting. I was very concerned for my safety and witnessed activities that took away any pleasure. Maybe I was unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The indiscriminate firing of guns and throwing fireworks wasn't my idea of fun. Even less fun was trying to move through the crowds to find safety. Complete madness. Despite assurances on recent invitations I have never repeated that experience. I much prefer to enjoy the occasion and the wonder of the firework displays that is New Year in Manila, from my own house. Must be getting old
The street fireworks even in our subdivision get scary, and in spite of us agreeing that we would only have sparklers this year I now find myself host to several large munitions (at least that's how I see them) 70 peso for some really big roman candles and so on. I don't even know the burn pattern of these things so as to set them off in the right place. Sometimes I question Ana's sense of morality, we are inviting over one of our kids cousins a young 16 year old lad who will act as the lighter of the fireworks, in my view that should be the job of the old 53 year old who has already had a life, not a young boy with everything to look forward to, so I will be having words later. Just spent the afternoon fixing the lights on the terrace all the screws and nuts rusted to hell and every bulb dead, got two of them working again now, that will be good enough. Just hoping that everyone in our neighborhood will be safe tonight. This is my sixth new year here I think, two of them spent here at this house, this should be the third, hoping for a quiet night.
What I mean is I hope I don't get forty visitors, I could post a vid from a couple of years back that shows the chaos
And what gives you the idea that you can escape from it...??? It is impossible. "Resistance is futile".... On this note, Jet and I, do wish you and family all the best for the new year and beyond.
Oh you are dead right mate, "resistance is futile", I had hoped Ricardo could make it over from Caloocan (my brother in law to be) but he has to look after his house, hope he can make it tomorrow. All the best to you Dom and to Jet and have a great new year when it arrives
I asked my wife, why round fruit, but she didn't now why. Anyone know? Pinoys make last dash for round fruits—and firecrackers "With less than 24 hours left in 2012, Filipinos made a last dash for round fruits and firecrackers to bid the old year goodbye and ring in the New Year. In Marikina City, Filipinos went to fruit stands at the local market to buy round fruits, radio dzBB's Glen Juego reported. This was despite the continued rise in prices of round fruits, even as several makeshift fruit stands sprouted in the area. Grapes sold for P230 per kilo from last week's P200 per kilo, while watermelons sold at P50 apiece and melons sold at P35 apiece. Chicos were sold at P70 per kilo while kiat-kiat was sold at P50 to P60 per net. Seedless oranges from Sagada were sold at P25 apiece, the report added." http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/stor...e-last-dash-for-round-fruits-and-firecrackers
Googled further.... "After midnight the family also gather for a thanksgiving feast called Media Noche (midnight meal). Filipinos believe having a food-laden dinner table augurs well for the coming year and brings good luck. At least 12 round fruits are placed in the fruit basket as a sign of prosperity for the next 12 months. All-time favourite dishes such as noodles (for long life), pork, beef, chicken, rice cakes and assorted sweets are served. For Catholics there is also a midnight mass to welcome the New Year." http://365greatpinoystuff.wordpress.com/
Amongst other things some of the round fruits are bloody expensive as I found out yesterday, over a fiver a piece. It's supposed to bring good luck, I am guessing but maybe something to do with the globe? You have to have a table full of round fruits otherwise you will not have a good new year, why do we carry coal over the doorstep and need someone tall dark and handsome to first foot us and the likes?
This obsession with round yellow and red things that you can eat is a carry over into Filipino culture of the Chinese Lunar New Year / "Spring Festival" customs. The "queso de bola" (whole Edam cheese, usually) eaten at Christmas comes from the hard round cheese shipped from Spain by sailing ship, long ago, but being red round and edible it has acquired the same significance... The are all "stand in's" for the Real Thing - gold coins!
I have just been asking my wife about that. She has a green dress with white polkadots on lined up for our baby tomorrow. I just found this: 15 Filipino Superstitions on New Year's Eve "There are so many interesting Filipino superstitions or folk beliefs associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the Philippines. Filipinos say you should observe the following customs and traditions to ensure that the new year being welcomed is a prosperous one. Many of these superstitions bear a strong Chinese influence. 1. Make as much noise as you can to scare away evil spirits. 2. Turn on all lights so that the coming year is bright. 3. Open all doors, windows, cabinets and drawers to let good fortune in. 4. Debts must be paid off. Fill you wallet with fresh peso bills. (Filipinos believe that whatever your financial state is in at the stroke of midnight, so it will be in the new year.) 5. Clean everything. 6. Wear polka-dots. Anything round signifies prosperity. 7. Scatter coins around the house, on tabletops.... inside drawers... FOOD-RELATED SUPERSTITIONS 8. Prepare 12 round fruits, one for each month of the coming new year. 9. Have a very round grape in your mouth at the stroke of midnight. 10. Eat a native delicacy made from sticky rice to make good fortune stick in the new year. 11. Eat long noodles (pansit) for long life. 12. Jump twelve times at midnight to increase your height. (Observed by Filipino children.) 13. Don't have chicken or fish. They are associated with the scarcity of food. ON NEW YEAR'S DAY ITSELF 14. Don't clean anything! You might sweep away the good fortune that came in on New Year's Eve. 15. Don't spend money at all. Your thriftiness on the first day of the year will augur your money management in the coming year. " http://tagaloglang.com/Filipino-Cul...ons/filipino-superstitions-new-years-eve.html
On a more serious note, if you are in thePhilippines, you know what is about to happen but your pets don't, so let me pass on this advice from my friend Mackoy Villaroman's FB page: MANILA, Philippines -- It’s as predictable as clockwork. After the sounds and sights of New Year’s revelry comes the inevitable tally of firecracker injuries. But practically unnoticed is the trauma that animals, especially household pets, suffer from all the noise, the light and the smoke. Here are some tips offered by the EcoWaste Coalition in collaboration with the Animal Kingdom Foundation, CARA Welfare Philippines, Pets for Peace and the Philippine Animal Welfare Society to safeguard our pets during the celebrations: 1.Persuade members of your household to make your home a “no firecracker” zone. 2.Politely tell your neighbors not to light or throw firecrackers near your home. 3.Exercise your pets during the days leading up to the New Year’s Eve and in the next morning when the festivities are over and the smoke has cleared. 4.Give your pets a physical outlet for their pent up energy due to arousal and stress. 5.Manage the environment so it is as relaxing as possible and as less stressful as you can make it. 6.Provide your pet with a safe place to take temporary refuge. If possible, allow your pet to stay in a quiet room such as a bedroom. 7.Close the windows, draw the curtains down and play relaxing music to neutralize the noise from the outside to help your pets feel secure. 8.Ensure your pet’s access to drinking water. Make her/him pee or poo. 9.Do not yell or laugh at your pet when she/he is cowering or shaking in fear. This is a natural response to a threat that they do not understand and cannot avoid. The tips are part of EcoWaste Coalition’s “Iwas PapuToxic” campaign for the safe celebration of New Year’s. On Saturday, EcoWaste and the animal rights groups staged a parade from Quezon Avenue to North Avenue to highlight their plea to “Be Kind to Animals” as we welcome the New Year. “It is not only humans that are badly affected by the manmade chemicals, noise and waste pollution resulting from the explosion of firecrackers and pyrotechnics. Animals, particularly cats and dogs, suffer silently from the deafening mayhem,” said Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste Iwas PapuToxic campaigner. “Cats, dogs and other animals are gifted with highly receptive hearing that is no less than 10 times more sensitive than that of humans and firecracker explosions from Piccolo to Super Lolo can cause acoustic trauma for them,” Heidi Marquez-Caguioa, legal officer of the Animal Kingdom Foundation, explained. http://www.interaksyon.com/article/51497/new-years-eve-tips--protecting-pets-from-the-trauma-of-revelry
