The fire station in Argao is the only one in Cebu, and one of 21 stations nationwide, that will receive a firetruck this year from the Bureau of Fire Protection national headquarters.
The other recipients are the BFP national headquarters and the La Loma station, both in Quezon City, Metro Manila’s San Juan City and Valenzuela City, Tondo district in Manila, Vigan City in Ilocos Sur; Antipolo City in Rizal, General Santos City; and Tabaco City in Albay.
Other stations are in the towns of San Leonardo, Gapan and Jaen in Nueva Ecija, Tapaz in Capiz; Panglao in Bohol, Siargao in Surigao del Norte, San Jose in Antique, and Obando, Hagonoy and Bulacan in Bulacan.
BFP-7 director Chief Supt. Enrique Linsangan said the purchase of the firetrucks and other fire-fighting equipment to the beneficiaries underwent a rigorous process, which included thorough study.
In his report coursed through Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Marius Corpus, Linsangan said the procurement price for the firetrucks already covered functioning water pumpers, fire-fighting accessories and auxiliary equipment, and supplies, repair and maintenance tools.
He said the BFP’s fire-fighting acquisitions refer to new units, and included the payment of appropriate taxes, which are often not required when buying a surplus or second-hand equipment.
“When the BFP procures a brand-new fire truck, the unit is always provided with basic or common accessories such as hoses and nozzles, basic suppression tools composed of spanners, bolt cutter, pike poles, axes and other devices, as well as repair and maintenance tools,” Linsangan said in his report.
Linsangan said the reports stating that a 1,000-gallon-capacity fire truck only costs P1.3 million, a 500-gallon-capacity truck only costs P900,000; and a 300-gallon capacity water pumper only costs P600,000 are misleading and erroneous.
He said these reports did not even specify whether the units referred to were brand new or refurbished, whether these are bought here or from other countries, or whether these are equipped with accessories.
He said that, in 2007 alone, the price of a new 1000-gallon-capacity fire truck is almost P8.7 million, a 500-gallon-capacity truck is close to P7.1 million, and a 300-gallon-capacity truck is nearly P6 million.
For the 2007-2008 period, the BFP already distributed 23 fire trucks to as many cities and towns nationwide. Twenty of these were 1,000-gallon-capacity fire trucks, one was a 500-gallon-capacity truck, and two were 300-gallon-capacity trucks.
The BFP has a total of 1,741 fire trucks nationwide, and only 74 percent of them are running and operating. This fleet is short of 1,926 trucks considering that, for an estimated population of 90 million Filipinos this year, the bureau actually needs 3,214 units to put the fire truck-to-population at an acceptable ratio of 1:28,000.
Linsangan pointed out that the Bureau strongly discourages the acquisition of imported equipment, whether brand-new or surplus units, which does not comply with customs duties.
Moreover, spare parts for imported, second-hand equipment are usually hard to find or are priced prohibitively, he said. — Garry B. Lao/RAE