Metro Manila, Philippines – Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday, Feb. 24, said 12 fire agency officials have been suspended and are facing administrative cases over alleged billions of pesos in recruitment payoff and regulatory compliance scams, up to bribing victims during firefighting operations.
He said the irregularities at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) involved requiring applicants to pay hundreds of thousands of pesos just to get employment preference, hefty inspection fees, forcing people to buy firefighting equipment, and even refusal to help fire victims unless they pay up.
Agency officials were placed under a 90-day preventive suspension, namely, four from Eastern Visayas, including a former regional director, six from Northern Mindanao, two from Calabarzon, and one from the Ilocos Region.
The complaint from Eastern Visayas stated that officials required applicants to pay between ₱400,000 to ₱800,000 to secure a slot. The complaint from the Ilocos Region involved an official who extorted ₱90,000 from an aspiring BFP employee.
“What we want to do is to put a stop, finally, sa recruitment scam na ginagawa nila,” Remulla said.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Task Force said it has received 40 complaints, including 21 that were referred to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for case buildup.
“Tingin namin 15 billion a year ang enterprise sa loob ng [BFP], kasama yung inspection fees, pagbili ng fire extinguisher, applicant fees, yung hindi sila magpapatay ng sunog hanggang bigyan sila ng may-ari ng bahay. Lahat yan iniimbestigahan namin,” Remulla said.
[Translation: We believe the BFP enterprise scam chalks up about ₱15 billion a year, including inspection fees, forcing people to buy fire extinguishers, application fees, and refusing to put out fires unless they receive payment from fire victims. We are investigating all of that.]
He called on BFP applicants to speak up against what he described as “systemic corruption” in the agency.
“We have to break the culture of corruption inside the BFP. Enough is enough,” Remulla said.
He said cases against other top fire agency officials on alleged bid rigging will be filed next week.
