BUREAU of Fire Protection (BFP) Director Jose Embang Jr. on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, said he was hopeful that President Rodrigo Duterte's expression of support for the agency’s modernization program would boost their recruitment activities.

Embang said modernization of the bureau’s equipment and increasing the personnel’s salaries would put them at par with other fire departments in other countries.

Among the equipment they need are fire trucks, ladder, platform, ambulances, rescue trucks and hazardous material truck.

“Importanteng importante po yang hazardous materials truck kasi yan po ang nagre-responde sa mga chemical spill, bio kagaya ng Covid-19, radiological incident yan po ‘yung hazardous materials na tinatawag,” he said.

He said they also need fire rescue boats, drones and medical helicopters to transport victims during fire at high-rise buildings and forest fires.

At present, he said the BFP has around 29,000 personnel and they are in need of at least 30,000 more. In order to achieve this, Embang said they need a competitive salary for their employees and the recruits.

The salaries of BFP personnel were doubled in January 2018, along with those of the police, military and other uniformed personnel.

Congress Joint Resolution no. 1, s. 2018 doubled the base pay of a Police Officer (PO) I in the Philippine National Police or a Private in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and equivalent ranks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, BFP, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

A PO I and those with equivalent rank now receive a monthly base pay of P29,668.

Aside from responding to fire incidents, Embang said BFP personnel are also asked to assist during disaster response operations and national emergencies.

During his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, Duterte said the BFP must be modernized with urgency. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)