Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Fire personnel undergo public safety courses
IN LINE with continuing efforts to upgrade the capability of the country's fire fighting force, a total of 824 officers of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) have either completed or are currently finishing various public safety courses here and overseas, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said on Monday.
Puno said the mandatory courses, foreign study grants and local workshops made available to BFP personnel, form part of the ongoing skills enhancement programs undertaken by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to boost the bureau's fire prevention and safety capability.
"The courses not only improve the skills of our BFP officers, but boost their morale as well," Puno said. "The continuing education of our fire fighters will help make sure that they are fully prepared for the high-risk task of protecting our citizenry from fire accidents," he added.
Puno disclosed that as of last June, 613 BFP personnel have already completed mandatory courses on fire prevention and protection. These include 298 who have finished the Fire Basic Recruit Course, 143 who have undergone the Fire Protection Supervisory Course and 172 who took the Fire Arson Investigation and Inspection Course.
Another batch of 190 BFP personnel is undergoing a Fire Safety Candidate Course (59), the Fire Officers Basic Course (84) and the Fire Officers Advance Course (47).
The DILG and BFP have also approved the foreign schooling of a fire officer who will train at the National Fire-fighter Academy in Los Angeles, USA; and two inspectors sent to Japan to undergo a Rescue Techniques Course and a seminar on prevention and crisis management on biological terrorism, according to BFP chief Police Director Rogelio Asignado,
The applications of 8 other fire officers for an Executive Course on National Security in Camp Aguinaldo have also been approved.
Another eight fire officers have also been allowed to go on study leave and scholarship grants.
Nominees have also been selected for a two-year masteral program on governance and human resource management in New Zealand; a fire safety management workshop in Singapore; an international structural fire fighting course for developing countries in Malaysia; a technical rope rescue course, also in Malaysia; and a local executives partnerships seminar for livelihood development in Singapore.
The BFP will also offer an additional 200 slots for the Fire Protection Supervisory Course and 250 slots for the Fire Arson Investigation and Inspection Course in the second semester of the year, Puno said.
He expressed the hope that the enhanced capability of BFP personnel would help offset the sorry state of the country's fire fighting system, where only 780 of the country's 1,600 towns have fire trucks and where fire fighters have to make do with dilapidated facilities and an acute shortage of safety gear.
Puno had earlier assured the BFP that the upgrading of fire prevention equipment and facilities across the country remains on his priority list as DILG chief even as he lauded the men and women of the bureau whose hard work, bravery and sacrifices have often gone unnoticed
Puno, a former congressman representing the first district of Antipolo, has long been calling on his former colleagues in the House of Representatives to help upgrade the country's antiquated fire-fighting and -prevention facilities by tapping into their Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) to help cities and towns acquire fire trucks, fire protection gear and other equipment.
Aside from this proposal, the DILG has also signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) last March as part of its continuing efforts to tap available funds for local government units (LGUs) that can be used to help upgrade and modernize fire fighting facilities in their respective cities and municipalities. (Press release)
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