Bringing Fire Fighting in the Philippines to the next level

Women firefighters would have been unheard of just a decade ago in the Philippines´ Bureau of Fire Protection, the attached agency of the Philippine National Police charged with fire fighting all over the archipelago. But women firefighters are just one of the many innovations now sweeping the BFP which promise to modernize the agency long plagued with antiquated equipment, fire fighting gear for firemen, lack of funds and qualified personnel.

Using the Kurambos technique of pooled resources made popular by Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, Secretary of Interior and Local Government Ronaldo V. Puno has put the BFP back on the road to respectability with a series of improvements which include the acquisition of new fire trucks, pooling of money in a special trust fund to sustain the agency´s modernization targets, and most important, hiring new fire fighters and improving their quality of life.

During the recent 18th anniversary celebration of the BFP at the Quezon City Sports Club, Puno cited the efforts of Representatives Rodolfo Antonino, Edcel Lagman and Junie Cua in helping make the agency´s modernization possible.

As chairman of the House committee on public safety, Antonino was largely responsible for the passage of Republic Act No. 9514 (The Revised Fire Code of the Philippines). Puno said that the passage of the Fire Code enabled the creation of a trust fund for the BFP´s modernization, to be pooled from 80 percent of revenues generated from fees the agency is allowed to collect under the law.

This trust fund would wean the BFP from its dependence on regular budgetary allocations and assure the sustainability of its modernization program because the BFP´s 80% share of the projected P1-1.5 billion annual revenues from fire code fees would automatically be dedicated to modernization.

Lagman, who was previously chairman of the House committee on appropriations, helped allocate funds for the acquisition of the 58 units of fire trucks in 2008 while Cua, current chairman of the House committee on appropriations, pushed for the allocation of money for the purchase of the additional 100 fire trucks.

To man the new fire trucks, the BFP is now hiring new firefighters at a time when other government agencies are just maintaining their personnel complement. On top of that, the salaries of entry level fireman (Fire Officer 1) will now start at P12, 500 this year, a P4, 000 improvement of the former rate.

Puno assured more fire fighting personnel would be hired every year to boost the firefighting manpower of the BFP. And these include women, the first all-women unit being organized just recently in the Caraga region.

BFP Caraga Regional Director F/Sr. Supt. Warlito Daus recently presented the company of 12 female professional firefighters from Surigao Fire Station, the first in the country.

Daus said the unit is also capable of performing other duties and responsibilities like first aid and rescue, in addition to fire fighting. Although other units also have female fire fighters, Caraga is the first region to have an all-woman unit, including the driver.

Team Leader SFO1 Liezel Lisondra was a clerk in the BFP for almost 10 years but is now a fully trained and qualified fire fighter. Daus said there are eight other lady firefighters assigned to the Butuan Fire Station.