Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa appealed to remove the P1-billion cap in the Bureau of Fire Protection’s (BFP) utilization of revenues from the Fire Code of the Philippines.
During the Senate plenary deliberations on the 2025 national budget, Dela Rosa said that the special provision on the P1-billion cap was deleted in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
However, the special provision was included again in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) that was submitted by the Executive Department and was adopted in the 2025 General Appropriations Bill.
“Kahit meron naman silang pambili ng additional fire trucks or personal protective equipment, hindi po sila makakabili dahil sa cap na ito.”
“The cap of P1 billion is again present in the Special provision under the BFP budget. This cap limits the BFP to utilize their available funds. Ibig sabihin po kahit meron naman silang pambili ng additional fire trucks or personal protective equipment, hindi po sila makakabili dahil sa cap na ito,” the legislator explained.
According to Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, who sponsored the BFP’s proposed 2025 budget, the deletion of the cap in the 2024 GAA was vetoed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“It was part of a veto message for conditional implementation.”
“It was part of a veto message for conditional implementation,” Tolentino noted.
But Dela Rosa still asked for the deletion of the special provision, to give “a chance for the BFP to use their available funds”.
“At least natanggal pa rin natin ‘yung cap. Bahala na sila sa Malacañang kung ipa-veto nila,” the Mindanaoan lawmaker said.
Tolentino agreed with Dela Rosa’s proposal to remove the special provision limiting the BFP to fully utilize the revenues collected from the Fire Code.
Under Republic Act 9514 or the revised Fire Code of the Philippines, 80 percent of the taxes, fees, and fines collected by the BFP shall be remitted to the National Treasury under a trust fund assigned for the modernization of the bureau.
Dela Rosa shepherded the approval of Republic Act 11589 or the BFP Modernization Act in the Senate in 2021.
