INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Saying it has been a standing request in the last 35 years, Mayor Domingo Mirrar of Lakewood in this province on Saturday asked Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos that his town be allocated a firetruck.
Mirrar made the request during the launch here of the Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan (BIDA) Bayanihan ng Mamamayan, the anti-drug campaign of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“It has long been our people’s dream that Lakewood will have its own fire station and firetruck. It has been our dream for a long time. Every time we experience a fire, we are reminded that this town, of all the towns in Zamboanga del Sur, doesn’t have this service,” Mirrar said.
Lakewood has a population of 21,559 people, according to the 2020 census. It is one of the 26 towns of Zamboanga del Sur.
“Now with this El Nino, we fear of forest fire, slash and burn farming that can affect our barangays, so I made this personal and open appeal to the Secretary, so he will know the real situation in our town,” Mirrar said.
He told the Inquirer that he first made this request in 1988, upon winning as mayor for the first time. Now, Mirrar is in his 8th term as the town’s chief executive.
“We never stopped appealing to DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Governmen] and to the province, but nothing happened,” Mirrar said, noting that if there would be a fire in the town, they have to wait for firefighters from Pagadian City, some 50 kilometers away.
If we have fire trucks in the town, he explained, “we can respond immediately and not wait more than an hour for a response from nearby towns, by that time, everything may already be razed down.”
Abalos advised Mirrar to work with the Bureau of Fire Protection in the region.
“There has to be a property where to build the fire station, and we will ensure that this will be a priority infrastructure in Lakewood,” Abalos vowed.
Abalos also instructed the BFP regional director to visit Lakewood to look into Mirrar’s request.