PH, South Korea Partner for 1,500 New Firetrucks to Boost National Fire Safety

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced on Thursday that it will deploy 1,500 firetrucks nationwide next year through a government-to-government agreement with South Korea. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla stated that this acquisition, facilitated through cooperation with the South Korean government, represents "the cleanest transaction that is possible with the best possible benefit sa lahat ng mga Pilipino." Remulla expressed confidence that within one and a half years, "every municipality will be fully equipped, and we won't have any more problems. It will be complete across the entire Philippines." The DILG, the Office of the President, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Bureau of Fire Protection are coordinating closely with the South Korean government for the procurement. In a separate development, the DILG also turned over 20 Class 1 Unified 911 emergency response motorcycles to Police Regional Office 6 at Camp General Martin Teofilo B. Delgado in Iloilo City. Ten of these motorcycles were allocated to the Aklan Police Provincial Office and the other ten to the Iloilo City Police Office. These motorcycles are intended to bolster emergency response capabilities following the rollout of the Unified 911 system. The system leverages geolocation to route callers to local emergency teams capable of communicating in the caller's native language. "All of those languages—wherever you are located, once your call is geotagged, the person who answers will speak the local language," Remulla explained.