Amid rampant corruption in fire safety inspections, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said today that he is confident the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) can still be straightened out under his administration.

“I have faith in the Filipino people. As long as proper leadership is in place, mapipigil lahat ‘yan. With the proper person, magtitino na ‘yan,” Remulla said.

This, he said, came after reporting that a new modus operandi in the application for fire safety certification of businesses has been discovered, a few weeks after the launch of the mandatory use of body-worn cameras (BWCs).

During a press conference in Quezon City, Remulla said the Department conducted a backtracking initiative by analyzing customer satisfaction among business establishments that experienced the revamped fire safety inspection. “99% may complaints pa rin,” the DILG Chief expressed in dismay.

Remulla characterized the modus as the reverse of the previous means of peddling specific brands of fire safety assets in exchange for clearance: “Nireverse nila ngayon. Imbes na mauuna ang fire inspector, nauna ngayon na magbenta ng fire extinguisher.”

Meanwhile, the DILG Chief urged business owners to report erring fire safety inspectors to the country’s central emergency hotline: “Sa mga may-ari ng negosyo, paki-video ang nakikita ninyo na nagbebenta ng fire extinguisher at itawag ninyo agad sa 911. Ang 911 ay magreresponde kaagad.”

To address the “cancerous corruption” in the BFP, the Department is set to file cases against the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) from 2014 to 2025 for bid rigging and graft. This includes officials under the BAC, along with incumbent and former Fire Directors over the past decade.

Remulla said that his priority is structural change in the BFP, especially with local chief executives (LCEs) being implicated in the anomaly, as this disrupts the gains in faster business permit processing among local government units (LGUs).

“Ang mahirap dito, kawawa ang mga Mayor kasi hindi nila mabibigyan ng business permit ang mga negosyante kung walang fire safety inspection certificate. When in fact, wala silang kinalaman dyan,” he explained.