The Senate on Thursday voted to reject the ratification of the Bureau of Fire Protection Modernization Bill after a provision authorizing some firefighters to carry firearms during emergency situations was reintroduced.
With a vote of 11-8-3, the motion of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa to adopt the bicameral conference committee report on the BFP Modernization Bill was lost. An absolute majority of 12 senators was needed for the motion to be approved.
Dela Rosa, who sponsored the measure, admitted that a new provision was introduced by the bicameral conference committee authorizing the purchase of firearms for BFP personnel. These, he said, would be used to protect firefighters during fires and other related emergencies.
The bicameral conference committee is composed of Senate and House members tasked to reconcile the contentious provisions in the bills approved by the two chambers.
The Senate voted to reject a similar provision during its deliberation on the measure last March, saying that carrying firearms is not the mandate of the BFP.
Dela Rosa said there was a "big difference" in the original provision rejected by the Senate and the one introduced by the bicameral conference committee.
He said that in the bicameral-approved version, only the security and protection unit of BFP regional units and city fire stations, each composed of only seven personnel, will carry firearms. This is equivalent to only 2,282 BFP personnel, or 7.5% of their total number.
"Their function is not quasi-police but to function only to protect their comrades while performing fire suppression operations, hazmat operations or fire investigation operations," he said.
Despite Dela Rosa's reasoning, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the Senate contingent in the bicameral conference committee should have stood by the earlier decision of the chamber.
"The intention was not to arm, was not to authorize by this law, the grant of authority to issue firearms," he said. "The mandate of the Senate contingent was not to allow any provision which can be interpreted to arm the BFP personnel."
Dela Rosa said he insisted on the Senate version during the bicameral meeting. But after conferring with the other senators in the panel, they agreed to accept the compromise offered by the House which was to insert the new provision.
Following its rejection, the report will be returned to the bicameral conference committee for further deliberation. The House of Representatives has ratified the bicam report.
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