SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has allocated P4 billion in its budget for next year to purchase new and modern fire trucks.
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the allocation would augment the firefighting capability of several towns across the country. He lamented 554 towns have no fire truck at all.
Roxas said an initial 300 fire trucks will be purchased next year.
The P4-billion budget will also cover the upgrading of fire stations, regular training for firemen and purchase of needed equipment.
The purchase of 300 fire trucks would fill about 63 percent of the nationwide needs of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for 2015.
By 2016, the government plans to provide more fire trucks to 1,490 towns and 144 cities. This is to reduce the response time in cases of fire from the average 12 minutes to only six minutes, Roxas said.
Roxas also bared plans to increase manpower in fire stations in accordance with international standards of 14 firemen per station.