Aquino spares firemen from anniversary scolding

Lucky firemen. They were spared President Aquino’s penchant for using anniversary speeches to scold government agencies.

“Baka may ilan sa inyong nag-aabang kung may babanat tayong patutsada (There may be some of you waiting for my reprimands),” the President said in his speech at the 21st anniversary of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) held in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday. He paused then added:

There’s none, he said. The audience broke into laughter and applause.

The President said that by now, government employees should know that he was not one to flatter people or agencies. He said he believed that the country would get nowhere if government would not face the truth that it also has its shortcomings.

“As President, it is my duty to ensure that our government is managed the right way. That’s why if I see a ‘wang wang system’ in any agency, I won’t think twice about facing it and confronting it,” Aquino said.

The “wang wang” system or mentality has been Aquino’s euphemism for the abuse of power by government officials and employees.

A “wang wang” refers to a car siren with government officials in the past used to bypass normal traffic conditions.

President Aquino has been known to criticize the hosts in events he had been invited to. In July, he called the attention of the executives and staff of ABS-CBN at the silver anniversary of the network’s news program “TV Patrol” for supposedly focusing too much on bad news.

Last month, he censured the Bureau of Immigration at its 72nd anniversary celebration for allegedly “conspiring” in the escape of former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother Mario. The Reyes brothers are wanted for the murder of Palawan journalist and environmentalist Gerry Ortega.

The President earlier told the Inquirer agencies that have nothing to hide and have not done anything wrong should not be scared to invite him to their anniversaries.

In his brief speech, the President paid tribute to the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo’s efforts to upgrade the equipment and facilities of the BFP, an agency under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Robredo perished in a plane crash in August.

The President said Robredo had worked for the acquisition of 76 Rosenbauer 1,000-gallon water pumper fire trucks from a government loan packaged by the Austrian government. Aquino noted that Rosenbauers are considered the “Mercedes Benz of fire trucks.”

“No one will forget the steps made by Jesse Robredo to achieve this. He had a ‘back-to-basics style.’ He proved that we can acquire the best equipment for the optimum (pinakasulit) price… We now begin to reap what Secretary Jesse has sowed,” the President said in Filipino.

Aquino said 12 of 76 Rosenbauer firetrucks will arrive in December and the rest will be available in 2013. “Not 2030,” the President stressed.

The President also narrated that he had once seen a fire break out and said he admired how the firemen were able to fight the blaze even without gas masks.

When he asked the firemen how they were able to breathe without inhaling smoke, he said he was told that it depended on the technique used to douse the fire.