Council reduces fire department’s miscellaneous budget

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

THE BUREAU of Fire Protection will have to resort to more belt tightening measures as the City Council, during its budget deliberation Monday, reduced the fire department’s projected 2012 budget from P4.3 million to P3.7 million.

Councilor Philian Louise Weygan-Allan proposed the P600,000 budget slash after realizing increasing finances to cater to some of the department’s maintenance and operations expenditures is unnecessary.

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Weygan said raising the fire department’s fund for its office supplies to P500,000 from last year’s P330,000 is pointless as the office’s actual consumption record for the previous year shows the department was not able to utilize all the materials bought, particularly the reams of bond papers.

Meanwhile, the council disapproved Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez’s proposal of decreasing the P5 million finances for the firefighting equipment and accessories to P2.695 million which was the same budget allotted last 2011.

According to City Fire Marshal Senior Superintendent Richard Villanueva, the proposed budget supposedly will be used to purchase 55 sets of firefighters’ suits which each costs P48,500 and the breathing apparatuses each worth P90,000.

However, Rondez said the fire department can either look for other suppliers of firefighters’ coats, trousers and boots who can offer these accessories at lower prices or lessen the quantity of the equipment they will purchase this year to meet the budget cut.

She added that the excess budget can be used to provide public schools in the city with fire extinguishers.

Councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda and Joel Alangsab, meanwhile, opposed the proposal as they feared deducting the budget for these equipment and accessories might risk and put firefighters’ lives in danger.

The council ordered the investigation of the fund for the said equipment.

The council will forward the P600,000 excess amount from the fire department’s budget cut to the Office of the City Mayor for further action. (Pamela Engaño)