MANILA, Philippines – The fire truck deal that got former Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno sacked is still pushing through. The first batch is already in the Philippines, but they will likely be used only in 2018.

According to Chief Inspector Ian Manalo, public information chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), 14 of the 76 Rosenbauer fire trucks from Austria have been in Batangas since April. What is left for them to do is to call for brokers who will deliver the vehicles to their respective local government units.

The first batch is intended for local government units (LGUs) in 10 provinces in Mindanao.

“Right now, their status there is that they are now in Batangas, waiting for a broker. We will post for a call, and we will look for a bidder that will deliver them. We still don’t have them,” Manalo said in Filipino.

Manalo gave assurances that the call for proposals from brokers will happen “soon,” saying they are still finalizing the requirements for interested bidders.

He said the basic requirements for brokers would be to “deliver” the fire trucks to the national headquarters of the BFP. Then, after a “turnover ceremony,” to the LGUs the BFP have chosen. 

The first batch is also expected to take longer to be delivered as all LGU recipients are in Mindanao.

Apart from logistical concerns, the process of delivering the fire trucks is prolonged by losing bidders who sometimes file complaints to reconsider the BFP’s awarding of the contract. Thus, the bureau expects the delivery of the fire trucks to stretch to 2018. 

After choosing the broker, the distribution is supposed to be faster for the rest of the fire trucks as the deal covers the delivery of all the 76 fire trucks of the second phase, not just those waiting in Batangas.

An incomparable deal

Despite the controversy that has surrounded the Rosenbauer fire trucks, the BFP believes that the deal is still made in good faith as it is part of the BFP’s thrust for modernization, as mandated by the Fire Code of the Philippines.

“We really need it. It’s performance is really impressive, it’s incomparable. We have not seen a fire truck like it,” Manalo said. 

Manalo explained that the fire trucks ordered from Austria conformed to the 92-page criteria they released to the Philippine government in scouting for fire trucks. This critera required the fire trucks to have at least a 1,000-gallon storage capacity and a 750-gallons-per-minute discharge capacity, among other requirements.

He said the BFP may not be able to give fire trucks to many LGUs at once, but they are at least “implementing modernization” to replace fire trucks that have been around “since the era of [Ferdinand] Marcos.”

Second phase

This is the “second phase” of the deal with the Austrian government. The first phase took place during the Aquino administration with late former DILG chief Jesse Robredo sealing the deal, and succeeding Interior chief Manuel Roxas receiving the fire trucks in 2013.

Back then, opposition lawmakers, headed by then Abakada representative Jonathan dela Cruz, already called graft on the deal saying that the trucks were overpriced at P20 million each. However, there was no case filed against it.

A week before Duterte assumed office in 2016, dela Cruz filed a petition against the deal before the Supreme Court.

Then in April, 3 DILG undersecretaries complained against Sueno through a “confidential memo” to President Duterte, citing the controversy of the overpriced fire trucks among other allegations. They said similar trucks could be bought for half the price. Sueno was relieved of his position after the meeting.

Before sacking Sueno, Duterte supposedly asked for a one-on-one meeting to defend the former DILG chief from the allegations, but the proposition was revoked by Duterte. – Rappler.com