BOCAUE, Bulacan – Brisk sales of fireworks products in this town have driven prices up by 50 to 100 percent.

Known as the Fireworks Capital of the Philippines, Bocaue is home to 62 registered fireworks dealers and five licensed manufacturers. The province of Bulacan, meanwhile, has a total of 21 licensed fireworks manufacturers, according to a report from the Bulacan PNP.

Joven Ong of the Philippine Fireworks Association told ARKIPELAGO NEWS BULACAN that the price spike is due to limited production by licensed manufacturers.

“When sales wasn’t good during the first ten months [of the year], some manufacturers opted not to make a lot fearing that these will not sell,” Ong explained.

He noted that sales only “picked up these past four weeks… It’s already too late to make up for lost production.”

As a result, some products have doubled in price due to the high demand this December, Ong added.

On the other hand, Lea Alapide, president of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., said local fireworks manufacturers have also faced a tight supply of chemical ingredients earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Justina Gabuyo, an official of the Bocaue Multisectoral Advisory Council representing the business sector, pointed out that the production of locally made fireworks products was further impacted by several days of rain.

The rains significantly affected the production of mitsa (fireworks fuse), which requires drying during the manufacturing process.

With the tight supply of fireworks products, the law of supply and demand applies, as the stakeholders noted: higher demand and limited supply result in higher prices, while lower demand and abundant supply lead to lower prices.

File photo: Mon Lazaro