MMDA turns over ‘eyes’ to BFP

Tim Orbos

To help the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) respond to emergencies during the New Year celebration, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will turn over command of its Metrobase to BFP personnel on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

“For New Year’s Eve, we will convert the Metrobase into a coordination center for BFP-Metro Manila. Beginning Dec. 31 up to the next day, the Metrobase will not be under the MMDA, it will be jointly under the BFP, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Health and MMDA,” MMDA general manager Tim Orbos said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Orbos said the MMDA was usually not part of the New Year monitoring but it took the initiative to offer its “eyes” on the streets to firefighters and emergency responders.

The Metrobase is the MMDA’s command center for its traffic monitoring system. It has access to the video feed of the agency’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras all over the metropolis.

BFP-NCR regional director Senior Supt. Rico Kwan Tiu said that the Metrobase would be a big help in assessing the situation for emergencies.

“The fire stations are on alert now. The good thing here is we will have concrete details from personnel deployed in the Metrobase. There will be constant relay of information,” he told reporters.

Tiu said the BFP-NCR conference room would be turned into an operations center where the live feed from the MMDA’s CCTV cameras would be mirrored.