Phil. Daily Inquirer, Nov. 30, 2005
Over 20 towns in Cebu still do not have fire stations, said a top fire protection official.
Inspector Joseph Villaester, the province's fire marshal, said the incident in Badian on Monday, wherein a fire at the town market was fought by policemen, highlighted the need for more funding to support firefighting projects.
"The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) had programs for this, but the implementation is delayed because of lack of budget", Villaester said.
He said the towns of Badian, Alcoy, Ronda, Alegria, Malabuyoc, Samboan, Santander, Oslob, Alcantara, Catmon, Borbon, Tabogon, San Remegio, Sogod, Pinamungahan, Asturias, Aloguinsan, Poro, Tudela, Pilar, Sta. Fe and Madredijos still do not have proper firefighting facilities.
Villaester said some of these towns already have fire trucks, like Badian, but the lack of a town fire department and firefighters mean the fire trucks are usually unmanned and left to the control of the local government unit.
The fire marshal said he was thankful for the provincial government's purchase of the trucks and their subsequent assignment to the different towns, but he emphasized a need for more coordination between the town governments and the BFP for the proper assignment of trained firefighters.
"We are urging those towns which had acquired fire trucks already to forge an agreement with the BFP so that we can assign firemen in their respective areas," Villaester said.
He said the first thing the BFP and a particular town government should do was to forge a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on how to operate the fire truck assigned to that town.
Villaester cited Malabuyoc as an example, wherein the town's fire truck is still being operated by the town government.
Villaester said he welcomed reports of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia's plans to purchase 20 more fire trucks, and that this could help the BFP realize some of its long-term programs.
The Capitol, however, refused the BFP's call to transfer ownership of the fire trucks to the BFP.
Garcia said Tuesday the fire trucks that the Capitol assigned to the different towns would remain the property of the provincial government.
She also said the provincial government's continued ownership of the trucks is not an excuse for the BFP's failure to assign firefighters to the trucks.
"Sinuswerte (Are they feeling lucky)?" Garcia said. "It's the province that bought the trucks. Dala na man gani ni ug tabang sa wala nila mabutangi (This is already a form of help to towns that still don't have any)."
As for the absence of firefighters in Badian, Garcia said it was the BFP's responsibility.
"It seems they refused to assign personnel because they had so many demands: 'turn over the trucks so that buildings can be erected'. Excuse me, let us define responsibilities," the governor said.
She said she would call a meeting between Capitol and BFP to thresh out problems.
She said she was particularly troubled with the Badian fire, wherein it was the policemen who had to man and operate the fire truck, and fight the fire.
"I am sure that when they applied to be policemen, they did not know they would have to double-time as firemen," she said.
