Piccolo (also sold under the trade names Great Bawang, Piccolo Corsair and numerous others) is a name given to a type of firecracker in the form of a thin small cylindrical stick filled with gunpowder and lit in the same way as a match.
Contents
Composition
Piccolo sticks ignite by rubbing the phosphorus-tipped head on a specially designed striking surface similar to a regular match, and can explode even on wet surfaces or underwater due to its thick and water resistant cardboard shell just like the other firecrackers. They are usually sold in boxes with pirate-themed artwork though variants exist with either generic or differently-themed packaging.
History
In 1938, the gunpowder with thick cardboard makes even more popularity with a pirate artwork. At Martial Law, the firecracker inventor used a pirate-theme artwork like skull and bones, Peg-Leg and some characters like Peg-leg Pete.
Legality
As they are readily available and inexpensive, it has since earned notoriety as a leading cause of firecracker-related injuries in the Philippines especially among small children, either due to premature ignition or accidental ingestion. The Department of Health, along with the Bureau of Fire Protection and local government agencies, has taken steps to outlaw the sale and importation of piccolo sticks. Counterfeit and repackaged versions are being sold in flea markets and sidewalk stalls such as in Divisoria. Most of them bear the markings "Made in Bulacan" and instructions in Tagalog to make it appear as not imported and to evade detection by authorities.