THE BICOLANO FIREFIGHTER

By Edgar Basares Jr.
Published in Sorsogon Now


City Fire Marshall C/Insp. Renato Badong Marcial is passionate, dedicated and committed to the strict compliance with fire safety standard. In an exclusive interview with this writer that ended at 1 AM, Major Marcial emphasized that “fire is everybody’s concern.” “It is sad to note that when the public hears of the Bureau of Fire Protection what enters their mind is firefighting only. In truth and in fact, the Bureau’s mission includes first and foremost PREVENTION, secondly SUPPRESSION, third INVESTIGATION, and fourth EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE/RESCUE” he adds.

Formerly the National Spokesperson of the Bureau, Marcial knows what he speaks of. “More important than firefighting is prevention. We have fires resultant from negligence. And this could have been avoided in the first place.”

The passion of the marshall …… Under his leadership, Sorsogon City Fire Department embarks on a massive fire prevention advocacy and course of action. It required attendance for fire safety seminar before issuing clearance to business establishments, conducted thorough inspection of buildings and other establishments and issued Notices of Violations, and maintained alertness and competence of its personnel by regular fire Olympics and similar exercises. It refused to be cowed by indifference and apathy of many and insisted on compliance from the stubborn few. Request for private meetings from a few were turned down and returned with a counter offer to comply. “Simple lang bro, rather than accede to their invitation, I invite them in my office and hear me explain the necessity of compliance with the required fire safety standard and the required attendance for fire safety seminar before we issue clearance.”


The wisdom of the marshall … “the general public must understand that because life and property is at stake we are adamant for full compliance with fire safety standard” says Marcial. “I always tell my group never to be complacent and not to accept pwede na yan standard as it is their career that is at stake. RA 9514, otherwise known as the Fire Code of the Philippines 2008, imposes accountability of public officials and employees, through reprimand, suspension or removal, as well as criminal penalties for negligence, malfeasance or misfeasance in the performance of their sworn duties thus we make sure proper fire safety measures are observed before we issue clearance be it for business or other structures.” An institutional type of occupancy in the city learned this lesson too well. Upon inspection, it was found out to be wanting on fire safety standard and a notice of violation was issued. After the prescriptive period given to remedy the situation lapsed, another inspection was held and still there was no compliance arguing that years and years of operation under their present condition no untoward incident happened. Fire Marshall Marcial issued them a second notice this time with a fine. Major Marcial explains “while noble is their objective to house and care one of the neglected sectors in our society it can never be argued that insufficiency of funds exempt them from compliance to fire safety standard. It would be more pitiful if these occupants became victims of fire caused by our own negligence.” That brought compliance from the administrator operating the said institutional home.

In one arson case, Fire Marshall Marcial directed his men to file charges against a suspect in custody even if the suspect was showing signs of psychological imbalance and the damage is a minimal P200.00. “We have to file a case since resultant from our investigation there was arson. Whether the suspect is insane is for the court to determine and appreciate.” As many of his personnel are still young and new, Marcial failed not to lecture on them to “learn the rudiments and procedure of filing cases from this simple one because in the future there is always that possibility of encountering bigger cases of arson where the suspect is even unidentified.” It is precisely the sense of direction that Fire Marshall Marcial brings to his men and women that makes morale of the command high. To many of the City BFP Personnel, working with their Chief becomes an enriching and instructive experience giving them the dignity of a public servant. Fire Marshall Marcial even faced squarely one applicant in the city whose application for clearance he refused to sign after it was found out that the BFP’s recommendation to provide egress in the establishment for safety reasons were not followed. The said applicant until this day continues to scratch his head in wonder with the lesson learned.

The vision of the marshall ……. Fire Marshall Marcial also embarks on changing the practice of ending validity of clearances until end of the year making almost all for renewal at the start of the following year making their inspectors hands full. He prefers to have clearances whose renewal comes exactly a year from the date it was issued. This according to Fire Marshall Marcial “makes the BFP always on their toe to be vigilant in monitoring whose clearances are set to expire or is about to expire. It gives the inspection team more time to be thorough in their works to ensure compliance to fire safety standard. In the end, we contribute to prevent fire in our community because your BFP took the necessary steps to ensure that fire safety standard is in place in each and every building and edifice in the city.”

The character of the marshall …… Renato Badong Marcial is a leader who is never ashamed to make decisions and never afraid to take a stand. His passion though is misunderstood by some for being strict and straight. For one they failed to realize that this City Fire Marshall was previously assigned and worked in the upper echelon of leadership in the Bureau giving him a comprehensive view of the situation and what remains to be done. As a matter of fact, standing is the invitation for him to go back to the national scene but he preferred to come home to his town and serve here as well as to be with his loving family in order to spend quality time with his lovely wife, three spirited daughters, and an energetic son. The many years of lethargy among Sorsogonanon faces the City Fire Marshall, but this daunts him not. To a man imbued with the correct values and character by his parents and buoyed with passion and dedication, the Bicolano Firefighter comes home to his own town with a mission.