SINISISI ni Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto ang Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) kung kaya’t daan-daang bilang ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ang walang sariling fire trucks.

Sinabi ni Recto, nabigo ang DTI at ang Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) na i-deliver ang P3.27 bilyong halaga ng fire stations, trucks sa 242 bayan sa buong bansa.

Aniya, hindi nakumpleto ng DTI o kahit isa sa 98 fire stations na nagkakahalaga ng P892 milyon.

“The undelivered fire stations ‘are the tip of the iceberg’ of the P3.27 billion worth of supplies, materials and buildings that the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) has yet to deliver to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP),” aniya.

Ito umano ang dahilan kung bakit nakapagtala ang BFP ng 18,612 na sunog noong nakaraang taon o 12 porsiyento mas mataas na naitala noong 2018.

“The next question is, why would an import corporation under the trade department be given taxpayer funds for a project which is infrastructure in nature? I am asking this because unfamiliarity with the work could be the reason for the delay. It is like asking Duque to build flyovers,” giit ni Recto.

“This is unfair to the men and women of the fire bureau who respond to emergencies in minutes, yet have to wait for years for equipment they badly need,” dagdag nito.

Sinabi pa ni Recto, mismong ang Commission on Audit (COA) ang nagsabi na ang BFP ay nakapagtala ng 170 unfinished fire stations sa huling bahagi ng 2019.

Kabilang din aniya sa hindi natapos ng PITC ang pagtatayo ng 98 fire stations at mga kagamitan ng BFP.

“Funding for the 87 came from Fire Code Fees in the amount of P787.5 million, plus the P104.8 million for 11 stations from the General Appropriations Act of 2017. This was all transferred to PITC,” ani Recto.

“One is P997 million worth of fire trucks, aerial ladders and various equipment, and the other is a fleet of fire trucks with an allocation of P1.5 billion,” ayon pa kay Recto. (NOEL ABUEL)