MANILA, Philippines — Fire trucks not firearms. That’s what senators asked the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to prioritize in buying with its savings.

During the hearing for the proposed P251.184-billion budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for 2023, an allocation of P27.77 billion for the BFP came under scrutiny.

Director Louie Puracan, BFP chief, told the Senate committee on finance chaired by Sen. Sonny Angara that they were seeking permission from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to use P45 million out of its P94-million savings to procure 2,282 firearms for firemen in 146 cities and 17 regional offices.

Puracan said the planned procurement is pursuant to the BFP Modernization Act signed in 2021 by then president Rodrigo Duterte.

It included a provision to allow firemen to carry firearms to address possible criminal activities while responding to fires.

However, Puracan said the DBM denied the BFP’s request to make the purchase last year due to lack of funds.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III recalled that during the deliberations in Congress before the law was enacted, the provision arming BFP personnel “came out of nowhere.”

During Friday’s budget hearing, Pimentel asked how much a fire truck costs, to which Puracan replied about P15 million.

“So the policy question is, three more fire trucks or 2,000-plus firearms? I think for the BFP that should be a no-brainer because you know what you are supposed to do,” Pimentel said in disapproving the proposal to allot funds to purchase firearms.

“I’m saddened with the idea of using the savings for fire trucks to buy firearms,” he said.

Sen. Nancy Binay asked how the BFP could have “savings” when the government is suffering from an acute lack of funds.

Puracan claimed that a bidding for a set of fire trucks did not push through as the bid amounts were “below” the approved budget ceilings.

Binay said the BFP can tap the Philippine National Police (PNP) to address crimes during fire incidents.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito noted there are 203 municipalities without their own fire stations and have to borrow fire trucks from their neighbors in case of fire.

Ejercito questioned why the BFP was prioritizing cities and first class municipalities in their distribution of fire trucks and neglecting poor local government units when “cities and first to second class municipalities can take care of themselves, and equip themselves.”

As the discussion wore on, the senator surmised that the BFP might be pressured by some legislators to prioritize their districts and advised Puracan to decline such requests in order to give due priority to poor municipalities in terms of distribution of fire trucks.

Puracan explained that the BFP now follows a specific “8-2” formula whereby for every 10 fire trucks, eight would go to refleeting and two to municipalities.

He said the BFP has about 400 fire trucks that are 40 years old or older.