DILG told to aid town without fire stations

CEBU, Philippines - Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPG-MA) party-list Rep. Arnel Ty urged the Department of Interior and Local Government to find ways to help communities to build up their own firefighting capabilities after finding out at least five towns in Cebu still do not have a fire station.

Ty, who is a member of the House committee on public order and safety, was here in Cebu for the launching of his sponsored project that provides health insurance protection to 1,000 indigent families in Mandaue City.

Based on the report of the Bureau of Fire Protection, which they have submitted to Congress, it was found out that the municipalities of Alcantara, Alcoy, Ginatilan, Poro and Samboan, all in Cebu Province, have no fire station. Nationwide, at least 613 of the country’s 1,502 municipalities still do not have a fire station.

Ty said there is a need for the DILG to push for the full implementation of a 21-year-old law that requires installation of at least one fire station in every municipality nationwide.

Under Section 56 of the Local Government Code, it provides that “there shall be established at least one fire station with adequate personnel, firefighting facilities and equipment in every provincial capital, city and municipality subject to the standards, rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the Department.”

“To be fair, it is possible that the lack of fire stations in these five municipalities has since been dealt with, or is already being addressed as we speak, or so we hope,” said Ty, a Filipino-Chinese fire brigade volunteer. 

The BFP defines a fire station as at least one operational fire engine with a full complement of trained firefighters on duty 24 hours a day.

Ty said he previously filed a resolution in Congress to ascertain the conditions, financial or otherwise, that have prevented the DILG from establishing at least one fire station in every municipality, as required by law.

“Without a fire station, human lives as well as properties in affected municipalities are at grave risk of being lost and instantly destroyed in an accidental blaze,” Ty said. — (FREEMAN)