Mayor eyes to strengthen village fire brigade

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

ILOILO City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is looking into the possibility of strengthening the barangay fire brigade of all villages here through comprehensive training to be conducted by the Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP) and local disaster management team.

Mabilog said one factor that caused the fire to spread quickly last Sunday in three barangays of the city proper is the lack of trained barangay people as first line of defense in any calamity.

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The city mayor said he is looking at the possibility of comprehensive training and will provide support for these trainings.

The City Government has an existing unspent balance of P25 million disaster funds covering P18 million in 2011 and P7 million in 2010 that could be used to harness trainings of barangay brigades.

Mabilog said with the approval of the City Council, three barangays razed down by fire last Sunday afternoon may be declared as calamity areas and allowed to use their calamity funds.

The City Council is set to hold a regular session on Wednesday to tackle the fire incident and calamity declaration of the affected barangays of Tanza Timawa Zone 2, Tanza Esperanza and Malipayon.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the city social welfare and development office reported a total of 403 destroyed houses and 14 damaged houses, affecting 566 families and 3,305 individuals.

Evacuation centers are at the Rizal Elementary School with 111 families; Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School with 76 families; A. Bonifacio Elementary School with 51 families; Malipayon Day Care Center with 10 families; Zone 2 Day Care Center with seven families and Zone 2 Barangay Hall with three families.