Group offers tricycles w/ firefight capabilities

CEBU, Philippines - A group of community firefighters in tricycles will be organized in 2016 in Metro Cebu barangays, starting with Cebu City, in coordination with the city government, the barangays and the Metropolitan Cebu Water District.

This is the foremost goal of the Centennial Force Foundation Inc., a national advocacy group based in Cebu City, as greed upon during its 15th Regional Area Command Conference and Christmas Party on Sunday at the Barangay Tisa Elementary School, attended by at least 100 members and commanders from various CFFI units in the province.

Domingo Andoyo, CFFI president, said the firefighting tricycles, which are designed and produced by Skygo International Corp., will be used by barangay firefighters in responding to fire alarms in congested areas where fire trucks could not penetrate due to narrow streets.

Each unit would cost P200,000.

Andoyo said these firefighting tricycles would revolutionize fire response capability in Cebu, citing the recent incident at Barangay Lahug where firefighters had trouble penetrating the narrow interior portion of the fire scene.

Andoyo said the tricycle is equipped with a 6.5-hp portable water pump with 50-foot long hose, two ABC fire extinguishers, nozzes, fire hydrant adaptor, axe, sirens, medical kit, and fireman’s suit, boots, gloves, helmet and gas mask.

Any barangay group, acquiring the tricycle, will undergo special firefighting training to be conducted by the Bureau of Fire Protection in coordination with the CFFI, said Andoyo.

Another CFFI project for 2016 is the designation of a paralegal officer in every province in the Visayas to help its members in their legal problems, especially on agrarian reform matters.

Mario Tomol, CFFI secretary general, said his unit will be working to have a paralegal officer, who will be recommended by the CFFI provincial commander, to hold office in the capital city of a province.

He said that in 2015, the foundation had already won around 20 agrarian cases in favor of farmer-members in Cebu, and that he would like to have this service expanded to other provinces by next year.

The CFFI was founded by Dr. Rogelio Tomol in 2000 and became a member of the Visayas Federation of Corruption Prevention Unit Inc. It continued its advocacy on anti-graft and corruption, good governance, peace and order, and campaign against illegal drugs, illegal gambling, illegal logging, illegal fishing and criminality in the country up to this day.

Doctor Tomol said he started CFFI with only six members and it had grown to at least 500,000 members, as of this year, with 250,000 of them coming from the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

“I want to nurture the gains of CFFI and make the organization a vital part of the people and the government in nation building,” he said.

The CFFI event last Sunday was attended by Doce Pares International Inc. head Gerald Cañete, CFFI vice president and global ambassador, Diomedes Mitchie Pason, political consultant for nation, Engr. Glenn Java, representing gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia, Senior Fire Officer 4 Jovito Abelgas, chief operations of the Cebu City Fire Station. CFFI vice president for special projects Patrocinio Bejasa, and radio broadcaster Jeffrey Gualiza.  (FREEMAN)