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A legislator said that the Bureau of Fire Protection
(BFP) has allegedly overpriced by as much as 800 percent water
trucks intended for fighting fires, adding the matter will be
subjected to a Congressional probe.
According to Rep. Bienvenido
Abante Jr. of Manila, the fire agency purchased the following
equipment with the respective prices: 1,000-gallon water truck with
basic accessories at P8.58 million; 500-gallon truck for P7.10
million; and 300-gallon truck for almost P6 million.
Abante stressed that the
dealers’ price for a 1,000-gallon water truck is only P1.3
million; P900,000 for a 500-gallon truck; and P600,000 for a
300-gallon truck.
“While it is imperative to
upgrade and maintain sufficient and efficient fire fighting
equipment, there is a similar necessity to check if there is truth
to this huge discrepancy in the costs of procurement and
acquisition,” Abante said.
The lawmaker argued that “there
is a glaring and huge disparity in the acquisition cost of fire
trucks by the BFP.”
With the alleged overpricing,
Abante filed House Resolution No. 606 asking the House Committee on
Public Order and Safety to investigate the procurement of the water
trucks and to determine whether government funds were indeed being
used for the purpose intended.
“There is an urgent need to
conduct investigation in aid of legislation to enable the government
to promptly and efficiently deliver basic services to our people,”
he said.
In line with the Congressional
inquiry, the Manila lawmaker said that fire is a major conflagration
that continues to waste millions of pesos in property and snuffs out
many precious, innocent lives.
He mandated the concerned House
committee to make Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and officials of
the fire agency to appear on the scheduled hearings.
--Jomar Canlas
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