BFP-Region 3 director Senior Supt. Manuel Manuel hails barangay fire brigades in fire suppression efforts. Photo by Ernie Esconde
DINALUPIHAN, Bataan — The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Central Luzon on Thursday saidhere that all municipalities in all the provinces under its jurisdiction have at least a firetruck each in fulfillmentof its mandate.
Under BFP– Region 3 are the provinces of Bataan, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija,and Aurora.
“Lahat ng bayan sa Region 3 ay may fire station bilang pagtugon sa mandate na ‘in every municipality, there must be a fire station’,” said Senior Supt. Manuel Manuel, BFP Region 3 director.
He said that they were in the process of modernizing firefighting units and even rescue capabilities: “Ang Region 3 sa pag-apula ng apoy ay nakahanda 24/7. Ang Region 3 ang isa sa mga kumpleto na gamit at maging rescue capabilities handa na rin.”
The BFP regional director was guest during the Para-Olympics of barangay fire brigades in 11 towns and one city in Bataan.
Participants in the provincial level were the winning barangays in their respective towns. The winner in turn will represent the province in the regional competition.
“Awareness ito sa mga barangay. Dini-develop ang mga barangay na maging force multiplier,” Manuel said during an interview.
He hailed the barangay fire brigades as big help to them considering that BFP has few personnel and there is usually only one fire station in the town.
“Train ang mga barangay upang sa pagsisimula ng apoy maapula agad. Tawag namin dito Para-Olympics, competition upang mahasa ang kakayahan sa pagresponde sa sunog,” Manuel said.
One of the events was the bucket relay where pails are used in dousing water during a fire.
“Usually walang firetruck ang barangay kaya itong timba-timba na makalumang paraan sa pag-apula ng apoy habang maliit pa lang ang gamit,” he said.
