THE BUREAU of Fire Protection’s (BFP) assurance that Iloilo Province has enough operational fire trucks should provide relief. Instead, the obvious discrepancy between the BFP’s figures and those of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) – Iloilo Chapter raises a more urgent question: Which inventory accurately reflects the province’s firefighting capability?
The BFP maintains that 65 of its 71 assigned fire trucks are serviceable, with only six undergoing preventive maintenance or repairs. Yet an LMP-Iloilo inventory as of March 18, 2026 showed that only 41 of 77 fire trucks were operational, while 15 were dilapidated and 22 needed repairs. Even the total number of trucks does not match.
This is not a minor accounting difference. The gap between 65 operational units and 41 is 24 fire trucks — enough to determine whether several communities receive immediate assistance or must wait for a unit dispatched from another town.
More disconcerting is the LMP inventory’s identification of 11 municipalities without functional fire trucks: Tubungan, Leon, Badiangan, Bingawan, Cabatuan, Anilao, Barotac Viejo, Batad, Carles, Lemery and San Dionisio. The BFP’s Running Card System, which automatically dispatches the nearest available unit, is a sensible contingency measure. But borrowing a fire truck from a neighboring municipality cannot replace having a reliable unit stationed where an emergency occurs.
In a fire, every minute matters. Distance, traffic, road conditions and simultaneous emergencies can turn a carefully designed response protocol into a dangerous race against time. A municipality without its own functioning fire truck remains vulnerable, regardless of how efficiently assistance is coordinated from elsewhere.
The discrepancy may stem from different classifications. Perhaps the BFP counted only vehicles under its direct control, while the LMP included fire trucks owned by local governments. Perhaps the two offices used different definitions of “operational,” “serviceable” and “under repair.” But these possibilities make reconciliation more necessary — not less.
The BFP and LMP-Iloilo should conduct a joint physical inspection and release a municipality-by-municipality inventory showing each truck’s ownership, location, condition and operational status. The public deserves more than competing totals and general assurances. It needs verifiable information, especially when lives and property are at stake.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.’s move to explore provincial assistance is welcome. Such intervention, however, must be based on an accurate assessment. Public funds should be directed first to municipalities with the most urgent deficiencies, particularly those without functional trucks and those covering large or geographically difficult areas.
The BFP’s modernization program must also go beyond acquiring new vehicles. It should provide adequate maintenance budgets, spare parts, trained mechanics and clear replacement schedules. A fire truck may appear in an inventory, but if it cannot leave the station when the alarm sounds, it is merely an expensive piece of parked equipment.
Assurances are useful, but preparedness must be proven. Iloilo does not need numbers that look comforting on paper. It needs fire trucks that start, run and arrive before a fire consumes what communities have spent lifetimes building.
