BFP-7 to Codilla: Submit documents to justify debts

The Bureau of Fire Protection-7 has directed Cebu City Fire Marshall Esmael Codilla to submit documents to justify the P433,000 the city fire department had incurred from a gas station so that the BFP central headquarters could allocate funds to settle it.

BFP-7 regional director Eleuterio Iturriaga, in a press conference yesterday, said he gave Codilla ample time to produce the proper documents considering that the debt had reportedly piled up since 2005.

The gas station, located in barangay Basak, would no longer give fuel to the fire trucks because of the mounting debts but then the BFP could not also provide the money to pay these for lack of documents.

Itturiaga also said that, in a February 9 meeting, Codilla handed to him only the demand letter from the gas station and there were no papers yet submitted to justify the debts. He added that he found it alarming also on why the debts reached that high.

He said that to solve the problem, Codilla should just submit to BFP-7 the documents, consisting of dates of fire occurrences, types of occupancy, number of fire trucks deployed, length of operation, fire-outs, mapping and the distribution of water sources, among others.

Iturriaga said the need for documents would also help clarify some points, one of which was the raw report that the city-owned fire trucks also partake of the gas allocation of the BFP-7 even if the city government has its own gas refueling station.

For now, Iturriaga said a new scheme of fuel allocation is implemented where the fuel would go directly to the nine fire sub-stations in the city after passing through the BFP-7 supply and control office, which would issue the gas slips and requisition.

BFP-7 recent gas allocation to the City Fire Department covered only the January-to-February period for this year, and the one for March has yet to be released. Iturriaga said his office would have to negotiate with other gas stations pending the debt settlement with the Basak station.

Iturriaga said that, under the BFP scale, its fire trucks would be allocated with 600 liters of fuel every quarter. The Cebu City Fire Department has around 14 trucks that the BFP owns.

When asked if Codilla would be relieved soon, Iturriaga said it could not be done because of the Comelec's ban on transfer of government employees.

He disclosed however that BFP-7 has three vacant positions: Assistant regional director for operations, and a provincial fire marshal each for Siquijor and Bohol.

The issue on fuel allocation for the Cebu City Fire Department came after Codilla announced the other day that the department has incurred so much debt and has not received yet its gas allowance from the national government.

Codilla even said that this lack of logistics support had frustrated him that he even mulled quitting from his post instead. - Flor Z. Perolina/RAE