Solon to new BFP head: Ensure personnel get advanced training
MANILA, Philippines — The new chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) must ensure that officers and staffers within their ranks get advanced training so that they can respond to different situations, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan said.
Yamsuan in a statement said this after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Jesus Piedad Fernandez as the new BFP chief.
According to Yamsuan, it is not enough that BFP personnel get the adequate protective gear and equipment, as all of these advancements will be for naught if they cannot properly use them.
READ: Marcos appoints new BFP chief
“As we welcome the appointment of BFP Director Jesus Fernandez, we are also optimistic that under his leadership, the agency would be able to boost its modernization efforts, starting with providing each city and municipality with modern firetrucks and our firefighters with adequate protective equipment,” Yamsuan, a former DILG assistant secretary, said on Monday.
“Fulfilling these goals should be complemented by continuous advanced training programs for BFP personnel to enable them to effectively carry out their responsibilities not only as firefighters but also as first responders during disasters and other emergencies,” he added.
Having the personnel equipped with new skills should be part of BFP’s modernization program, the lawmaker noted.
“Ensuring that the emergency response capabilities of our fire personnel are on par with international standards should form part of the BFP’s modernization program,” Yamsuan said.
In a statement last Thursday, the DILG said Fernandez was designated to the post last April 11 and will lead the modernization efforts of the BFP.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla previously assigned Fernandez to be BFP’s officer-in-charge, after the mandatory retirement of former Fire Chief Louie Puracan last December 2024.
Fernandez used to be BFP’s director for logistics in 2016, before assuming the role of director for comptrollership a year after.
Yamsuan hopes the BFP can coordinate with lawmakers on how to improve their services, like in discussing bills. One bill that the BFP can provide inputs, the lawmaker said, is a proposal to require at least one BFP personnel per fire station to be certified medical first responders and emergency medical technicians.
Yamsuan said under House Bill (HB) No. 6512, BFP regional directors will be required to designate the medical first responder in every fire station. The said officer will then be dispatched during medical emergencies during fire incidents.
“The BFP can partner with other government agencies, such as the Department of Health (DOH) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as well as the private sector in providing advance trainings and seminars to its personnel,” he noted.
