MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is thinking of imposing a selective ban on firecrackers and limiting purchases only to groups.

Department of Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag disclosed through his Twitter account the government's plans.

#DOH now mulls selective ban of fireworks that will not allow individual purchases Selling will be limited to accredited groups #APIR #DOH

— Doc Eric Tayag (@erictayagSays) December 26, 2012

Tayag has also asked the public to comment on the government's plans via Twitter.

To ban or not to ban That is the question #DOH asks you with regards to fireworks in #PH Share us your thoughts #APIR #DOH

— Doc Eric Tayag (@erictayagSays) December 26, 2012

The DOH's plans were disclosed after Tayag tweeted that firecracker- and stray bullet-related injuries have increased to 72 as of Wednesday, December 26.

As of Dec 26, Number of Firework injuries reach 72 with 71 due to fireworks and 1 due to stray bullet #APIR #DOH

— Doc Eric Tayag (@erictayagSays) December 26, 2012

This was a significant increase from Tayag's tweet 2 days ago which said there were 44 firecracker-related injuries as of December 24, a week before New Year.

Tayag said 71 of these injuries were caused by firecrackers while one incident was caused by a stray bullet.

This, however, was lower than the 108 injuries caused by firecrackers and stray bullets in December 26 last year. The breakdown of these injuries are as follows:

• 99 injuries due to fireworks
• 8 caused by stray bullets
• 1 caused by firecracker ingestion - Rappler.com