DILG SEEKING CONGRESS APPROVAL OF P1.1-B OUTLAY FOR BFP TO MODERNIZE DILAPIDATED EQUIPMENT

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is asking Congress to approve a P1.1 billion capital outlay for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) under its proposed budget for 2009 as part of the Arroyo administration’s efforts to modernize the country’s antiquated fire fighting facilities and equipment.

DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the proposed P1.1 billion capital outlay of the BFP for next year will be used to procure 100 units of 1,000-gallon capacity fire trucks, 500 sets of personnel protective equipment, and 632 units of breathing apparatus.

The DILG has proposed an allocation of P900 million to procure these 100 fire trucks; another P34.86 million for personnel protective equipment that includes fire suits, gloves, helmets and boots; and P170.88 million for breathing apparatus with refillers.

Puno said the fire trucks would be distributed nationwide to replace dilapidated and decommissioned units, while the breathing apparatus and personnel protective equipment will be distributed among fire stations in Metro Manila.

This year, the BFP has procured 14 units of fire trucks worth a combined total of P135 million, while another P100 million from congressional initiatives is now being readied to buy additional units, according to DILG data.

Besides fire trucks, the BFP is also in the process of procuring P23.77 million worth of breathing apparatus and hiring 500 fire officers to augment the shortage of fire fighters in the bureau.

Underscoring the urgent need to modernize the BFP, Puno noted that although fire protection is a basic frontline service, only 827 or 55.35% of the country’s 1,494 municipalities have fire protection capability.

If the BFP were to comply with the minimum requirements under the law of establishing one fire station with adequate firefighting equipment and personnel in each municipality, it would immediately need at least 667 fire trucks, Puno said.

However, the BFP has an existing fleet of only 1,741 fire trucks, of which only 74% are operational. The Bureau’s existing fleet is actually short of 1,926 units, considering that for an estimated population of 90 million Filipinos in 2008, it needs 3,214 units to bring down the fire truck-to-population ratio to one fire truck for every 28,000 people.

To date, the actual truck-to-population ratio is one fire truck for every 69,626 persons.

Worse, he said, only 2,285 sets of personnel protective equipment, such as fire-retardant coats and boots, are available for use by the BFP’s 12,814 firefighters, which means only 17.83% of them are protected when they are exposed to chemicals and other hazards during fire-suppression operations.

The BFP also has a shortfall of 16,406 firefighters, and a grave shortage of fire inspectors, considering that the bureau only has 1,620 of them in relation to the number of establishments to be checked, which is estimated at 835,000 structures nationwide. This does not yet take into consideration the construction of new buildings, which averages 103,000 units each year.

With the shortage of fire inspectors, the BFP can only inspect an annual average of 381,565 establishments.