Fire substation opened for upland Mandaue brgys

CEBU, Philippines - The Mandaue City government and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) yesterday inaugurated the second Bantay Mandaue 161 substation in Barangay Subangdaku.

The substation is temporarily occupying a room in one of the national government offices in the barangay but a permanent one will be built soon near the North Bus Terminal at the North Reclamation Area.

The substation will be manned by ERUF personnel and trained barangay personnel.

This is the second fire substation that the city inaugurated this year, the first was in Barangay Basak for the Kabukiran cluster. The substation was inaugurated alongside the launch of the city’s command center.

The command center is where emergency calls are taken and the CCTV cameras are monitored. The center and substations operate 24 hours. The substations in the city are  equipped with  communication systems, an ambulance and a fire truck .

Mayor Jonas Cortes said three more substations will be built before his term ends.

The Bantay Mandaue 161 substations are aimed at reducing the response time during disasters and calamities in a span of five minutes, the international standard time in responding to alarms.

Mandaue’s 27 barangays are divided into five clusters: Mahiga, Kabukiran, Kadagatan, Butuanon and Centro.

The substation in Subangdaku will serve the Mahiga cluster.

Subangdaku Barangay Captain Ernie Manatad said the substation is a great help since the barangay faces the threat of flooding when the Mahiga Creek overflows. –/JMO (FREEMAN)