Iloilo firecracker makers get PS license

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=3856

ILOILO CITY — A group of firecracker manufacturers and traders in Arevalo, Iloilo City has passed the quality standards set by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The Sto. Niño de Arevalo Multi Purpose Cooperative (SNAMPC), which is composed of more than 300 fireworks manufacturers and 200 dealers and retailers, has been awarded a license to sell and distribute in the market with the PS (Philippine Standard) Mark.

The DTI’s Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) issued PS License no. Q-1276 to the cooperative last week. The PS license covers 18 products _ puetes, tambaliti, roweda, fountain ordinary, fountain special, camara, baby camara, triangulo, zapzap, whistle bomb, and tilinabid, among others.

Danilo Gison, general manager of the cooperative, said the PS license is a dream come true for the cooperative. This license shows that Iloilo-made pyrotechnics are as competitive and safe as those made in Luzon and abroad.

“We are the first group in Region 6 and the second nationwide to be granted a PS License. Now, we can manufacture in the open without fear of being apprehended,” Mr. Gison said. The cooperative has a manufacturing complex in Arevalo district composed of five processing structures and a warehouse.

“Being a PS licensee gives us high morale and more self confidence. We have accepted the challenge of having our products certified by the BPS. We thank all our members and the DTI for their support and trust on us,” he added.

The DTI-6 regional office said the cooperative’s 18 products passed the tests and complied with the requirements of the Philippine National Standards 1220-2, series of 1994 (Fireworks Part II Specification).

These products were tested for compliance with the requirements of PNS 1220-2:1994 on labeling, construction and performance. A local DTI team went to Brgy. Sooc, Arevalo, the cooperative’s manufacturing site, to test the products.

DTI regional director Dominic P. Abad also said the members of the cooperative underwent a series of awareness and orientation seminars on the pyrotechnic industry.

Among the seminars attended by the cooperative members were Forum on Fireworks organized by the DTI, Philippine National Police and the Iloilo City Government; Financing Forum for funding purposes; Awareness Seminar on ISO 9001:2008 with focus on Quality Management System; and Product Audit for compliance with the standards set by the BPS on fireworks.

As a requirement of Republic Act 7183 (An Act Regulating the Sale, Manufacture, Distribution and Use of Firecrackers and other Pyrotechnics Devices), the cooperative’s manufacturing area is located 300 meters away from the nearest residential unit and must be declared by the local government unit as a firecracker zone.