Bureau of Fire Protection behind in target fire stations, fire trucks —COA

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) failed to meet its target construction of fire stations and purchase of fire trucks for the first half of 2018 due to problems in utilizing government resources, according to the Commission on Audit in its performance audit report.

As of June 30, 2018, the COA said the BFP built only 263 fire stations, or 72 percent behind its target of 945 in the BFP Modernization Program.

The procurement of firetrucks was also behind by 41 percent after BFP reported that it only purchased 621 out of the 1,057 target units despite being a priority project.

"The BFP is not on track in accomplishing the modernization program's goals and objectives within its timelines due to issues with funding, procurement, and monitoring," the COA said.

Other BFP facilities pending upgrades include 308 municipalities still without fire stations; 59 fire stations without fire trucks; 1,756 fire trucks without self-contained breathing apparatus; and, 13,119 fire trucks with incomplete sets of personal protective equipment.

The BFP Modernization Program costs P60.29 billion, but COA said the BFP budget for 2018 reached P13.17 billion mainly because of the insufficient collection of Fire Code fees.

The COA said the low budget utilization rate of the BFP also hinders the bureau from seeking additional budget from the Department of Budget and Management. It noted the BFP needs to improve its spending first after it failed to spend more than P1.9 billion of its modernization fund from 2011 to 2017.

Fire Code remittance

Meanwhile, the COA blamed local government units for their unverifiable and untimely remittances of Fire Code fee collections.

"Delayed and inaccurate remittance of fire code fees collection adversely affect the ability of the BFP to meet the funding requirements of the modernization program. Should the revenues fall short of the projected funding requirement, the BFP will have to request additional appropriation," it said.

The COA mentioned Paranaque City in its performance audit for the lack of supporting receipts in the remittance of fire code fees, thus, the unverifiable accuracy of the collections.

This forced the Paranaque Central Fire Station to revoke the deputization of the LGU in collecting the fees, according to COA.

It also flagged the cities of Manila, Valenzuela, Las Pinas, Makati, Pasay, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, and Quezon for its failure to regularly remit and report its collections.

The agency said the BFP expects to implement this year an e-payment system for LGUs to remit their Fire Code fees.

In its recommendations, the COA urged the BFP to train its personnel on the procurement process to ensure its budget and key projects on fire protection services are fully utilized.

"Conduct procurement in a timely manner to maximize utilization of its limited budget. Moreover, the BFP needs to strengthen its monitoring on the projects implemented to ensure their timely completion," the COA said. —LDF, GMA News