New Year-related injuries in Philippines climb to 198

Firework-related injuries in the Philippines have kept rising as the New Year is approaching, forcing security forces on high alert. There had been 198 revelry-related injuries by Sunday morning, according to the Department of Health. Of the total, 193 were injured by fireworks and five others by stray bullets. The government urged the public to welcome 2014 in a happy yet safe manner, Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on Sunday, adding that more than 1,800 hospitals nationwide are preparing to accommodate revelry-related injuries. Coloma said government agencies concerned had already aired warnings against the use of harmful fireworks to greet the New Year, lamenting that many Filipinos still defied these warnings and kept on using such fireworks that ended up in injuries or even lives. Police forces are on heightened alert, patrolling public areas like parks, churches, airports and transport terminals, as well as malls. Meanwhile, Coloma urged law enforcers not to fire their guns in welcoming 2014. The muzzles of firearms of some 148,000 police personnel had already been taped to prevent them from firing the weapons indiscriminately during the New Year revelry, he said. "After the New Year celebration, the chiefs of police will inspect the firearms and see who violated the rule and will meet appropriate sanctions," he added.