Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 6) — Only nine out of 98 fire stations were completed under a budget procurement deal with the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), prompting the Bureau of Fire (BFP) to terminate the ₱892-M contract.
“Ida-drop na po namin ‘yung 75% below, ida-drop na po namin ‘yung contract namin with contractor and PITC. Nakiusap na po kami sa PITC…na i-take over na po namin itong projects na ito kasi sayang po,” BFP Chief Louie Suralta Puracan said during Wednesday’s Senate committee hearing on the proposed 2024 budget of Department of the Interior and Local Government and its attached agencies.
[Translation: We’ll drop the 75% below, we’ll drop the contract with our contractor and PITC. We are talking with PITC to allow us to take over the projects.]
In a letter sent to CNN Philippines, the PITC confirmed that “out of 98 sites, 9 sites were completed, 6 sites were terminated due to location issues, 31 sites were less than 75% completed and 52 sites were 75% and above completed.”
PITC said the contract was signed in 2017 but location issues and bidding failures in 2018 to 2020 resulted in revisions of the Terms of Reference (TOR).
In a separate statement on Saturday, PITC said the 98 sites were awarded during the pandemic when “all infra projects were suspended.”
“This is not the contractor’s nor PITC’s fault since the BFP identified and listed the sites for the fire stations, which was found out later that it is not possible to construct fire stations in those BFP-listed sites,” PITC said.
“There is no need for BFP to ‘makiusap’ since everything is coordinated with them and as the end-user, they have the last say in the decisions during contract implementation,” it added in response to Puracan’s statement.
PITC President and CEO Emmie Liza Perez-Chiong said they will return the unutilized budget to the Bureau of Treasury as soon as possible.
Chiong added that the projects were all bidded out and awarded during the time of her predecessor.
The nine completed fire stations are in:
1. Candon, Ilocos Sur
2. Alcala, Pangasinan
3. Urdaneta, Pangasinan
4. Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya
5. San Agustin, Romblon
6. Pili, Camarines Sur
7. Cortes, Surigao del Sur
8. Madrid, Surigao del Sur
9. Navotas City.
The six sites terminated due to location issues are in the Mountain Province, Davao Region, Western Visayas, and Bicol while the 31 sites with less than 75% completion are in Central Luzon, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Southern Leyte, and parts of Western Visayas.
The 52 incomplete fire stations are in parts of Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Zamboanga, Negros Oriental, Palawan, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Bohol, Capiz, East-West Samar, Leyte, South Cotabato, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental.
