MALOLOS CITY—Pyrotechnics retailers in Bocaue town and other parts of Bulacan may have completely sold out their products hours before the New Year, but sales remained low.
This is due to low production of pyrotechnics products that included fireworks and firecrackers. Vimmie Erese, president of Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., (PPMDAI) said production in preparation to 2104 dropped by at least 40 percent compared to that for 2013.
The basis on the said estimate is on procurement of raw materials like chemicals from police accredited dealers. Erese said that some local manufacturers even ran out of papers needed in the production of pyrotechnics products before the end of 2013.
“Marami ang maagang nakaubos ng produkto sa Bocaue dahil mababa ang production namin,” she said in a telephone interview. While the PMMDAI still had to assess actual sales, Erese said that it dropped due to low production. One reason for the continued decline in production of locally manufactured products are smuggled and imported pyrotechnics products.
In the last two years, PPMDAI claimed that sales of pyrotechnics production has declined. When asked if sellers
of imported and smuggled products made bigger sales before the end of 2013, Erese said in Filipino “most likely.”
In an earlier interview, Engineer Celso Cruz, the president emeritus of the PPMDAI said that at least 50 percent of pyrotechnics products sold in Bocaue are smuggled or imported; 30 percent are illegally manufactured; while only 20 percent are legally produced by members of the PPMDAI.
Cruz also insinuated that some licensed dealers and retailers also sold smuggled or imported products.
