ILOILO City – Volunteerism is people’s voice put into action.
This was the response of a fire volunteer when asked of the space they are taking in the community.
Mary Henz Antonette Bano, 31, was a resident of Barangay Concepcion, City Proper here.
She was a member of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Fire Brigade since November 2018.
Bano was a registered midwife and once affiliated with the Iloilo City Emergency Responders (ICER). She was a job hire back then, but “because of politics, I was relieved from work.”
She was encouraged by her friends to join the federation.
Bano said she wanted to become a helping hand since she already had an experience in her previous work.
“Happy ako makabulig sa mga tawo bisan wala ako sweldo,” she stressed.
One of her memorable experiences? It was one time when she responded to a fire call. A lot of people got injured and they were immediately brought to the hospital.
“Kanami gid magbulig. It’s nice to hear people saying ‘Thank you for helping,’” said Bano.
Meanwhile, the 44-year-old Joselito Villasis of Barangay Quezon, City Proper here (also a photojournalist of Panay Bulletin) joined the federation as volunteer in 2004.
At first, he shared that he was just covering a fire incident “tapos nagsulod sa isip nga gusto ko man mag-volunteer.”
“Bisan wala lang sweldo happy man ‘ko kay nakabulig ako sa mga biktima sang sunog,” he said.
He added that within their federation, they had rigorous training on firefighting. They were also taught of the proper protocols.
“I am a truck driver. If may sunog kag kon need gid nila tawo, naga–away gid ako sa kalayo with the Bureau of Fire Protection,” he said.
Their performance as fire volunteers were also assessed during their monthly meetings, Villasis shared. They were also given feedbacks on things they could still improve.
“Wala kami sweldo pero may mga pamahaw man tapos sang fire incident,” he happily said.
It was that fire incident in Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz district in 2011 and in Barangay Tanza Baybay in 2012 that left so many memories for Villasis.
“If mag responde kami dapat naka proper gear gid halin sa dalom hasta sa babaw to protect ourselves,” he added.
“Every year, may mga trainings kami sa Taiwan… mga two weeks and it’s all about fire,” he furthered.
As of now, their federation had 28 fire trucks being used to augment to incidents even outside this southern city.
Villasis said he will continue serve the people as long as he is in the federation./PN
