PAGADIAN CITY—A total of P724,377.10 was collected by the city office
of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for the first quarter after its
implemented RA 9514, the Comprehensive Fire Code of the Philippines.
Fire Marshal Inspector Christopher Morales said RA 9514 empowers local
fire stations to collect all fire code fees from the local government.
Morales disclosed that their collections cover the period of January
to April and out of this, P20,766.12 came from the neighboring town of
Dumalinao, which is presently under the jurisdiction of the City Fire
Station.
Morales' report paper forwarded to The Daily Corridor showed
P441.535.98 collections for January, double the income for the same
period last year which is only P290,573.24.
Morales said that the collection was taken from four common coverage
charges of the fire code fees: safety inspection fees, fire code
construction tax, fire realty tax and storage clearance fees taken
from gasoline stations.
The collected fees will then be remitted to the National Treasury
after which 20 percent will be retained by the local government to be
used for maintenance operations and implementation of fire safety.
Of the remaining 80 percent, about 18 percent will be coursed through
the Department of Budget and Management for the acquisition of fire
trucks, fire fighting equipment and accessories, and construction of
more buildings
This substantial collection performance is an indication of the
support from taxpayers and their understanding of the new policies and
process of securing fire safety permit and conducting, Morales told
this paper.