To boost the firefighting capability of local fire stations and the mobility of policemen in support of law enforcement and internal security operations, President Benigno Aquino III led on Monday the distribution of 135 newly procured fire trucks to the Bureau of Fire Protection and 144 new patrol jeeps to the Philippine National Police.
The first as well as the second batch of the fire trucks were already distributed last year, while the third batch of 155 units were turned over to the recipients last Feb. 19.
DILG said this is the biggest fire truck procurement in the history of the BFP with a total of 469 units that amounted to P2.5 billion. Of the total number of fire trucks, 244 units are with 1,000-gallon capacity and the rest with 500-gallon capacity.
"These new additional fire trucks will aid in the filling up of shortages on its assets and will intensify the fire suppression capability of the BFP. It will not only boost the capability of our firefighters; it will also help them to be more effective and efficient in performing their mandated task. Similarly, these new equipment will also lift the morale of our firefighters because their dilapidated fire trucks will be replaced by the new ones," President Aquino said as he emphasized the importance of the acquisition of the additional fire engines.