BIZ BUZZ: Fire clearances for sale

This Bureau of Fire Protection unit just outside Metro Manila is becoming quite infamous for exacting a heavy “toll” on businesses under its jurisdiction.

Sources from the business community lament that to obtain the fire permit (that is in turn needed to get the business permit) for their facilities, they are compelled, in one way or the other, to deal with this unit under the table.

First, they have no choice but to buy the required number of fire extinguishers from the entities endorsed by the persons issuing the permit. Worse, the fire extinguishers are “grossly overpriced.” However, they must buy from these favored suppliers lest their application for fire clearance goes pffft.

They also complain about the chronic delays in inspection of the facilities for the purpose of fire clearance. And when they finally come, inspectors will always find faults that need to be “fixed.”

“So in one case, a fire permit that would only cost about P20,000 on a normal business day, went to as high as P1.5 million,” said one source.

And in the following year, when it’s time to renew business permits, including the fire permits, many additional requirements will be imposed even if a property had passed all their fire requirements the previous year, apparently to make it difficult to qualify and thus force property owners to “fix” the problems.

May those who oversee this unit—and many others just like it across the country—crack the whip on those blatantly profiting from fire permits at the expense of hapless business owners. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Reshuffle at DA

A whole lot of reshuffling is going on at the Department of Agriculture (DA), which is poised to unveil next week the blueprint for modernizing the long-neglected agriculture sector.

According to recent special orders, Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian is now part of the DA chief’s technical advisory group, which will help Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. address issues affecting the farm sector.

Mercedita Sombilla, meanwhile, was named undersecretary for DA bureaus. Her previous post, undersecretary for policy, planning and regulations, is now with Drusila Esther Bayate, currently the undersecretary for fisheries.

Agnes Catherine Miranda, the DA undersecretary for finance last year, meanwhile, is the new undersecretary for attached agencies and corporations.

Both Sombilla and Miranda will oversee the functions and activities of the attached bureaus, agencies and corporations under DA.

Telma Tolentino was named the undersecretary-designate for finance in concurrent capacity as chief administrative officer and OIC-director of DA’s Financial and Management Service.

Roger Navarro as OIC undersecretary was also given other responsibilities: OIC of Office of the Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development; Office of the National Project Director, Philippine Rural Development Project and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Operations.

Meanwhile, U-Nichols A. Manalo was designated director of the DA’s National Rice Program aside from being the OIC-director of the DA’s field operations service and the National Corn Program director.

Here’s hoping these changes will bear much fruit. —Jordeene B. Lagare

All set for NKTI’s P1.3-B OPD facelift

It’s all systems go for the construction of the new out-patient department (OPD) building at National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released the funds for the project.

The DBM said it approved the issuance of Special Allotment Release Orders amounting to P550 million to partially cover the funding requirements of the new facility. The eight-story OPD building has a total project cost of P1.3 billion.

NKTI is a government hospital that specializes in the treatment and prevention of kidney and allied diseases through dialysis and transplantation. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, NKTI played a key role in the state’s pandemic response.

Formerly known as the National Kidney Foundation of the Philippines, NKTI—a major project of the first Marcos administration—also holds importance for President Marcos, who assured the hospital of continued support during his visit there last year.

Latest Treasury data showed the state’s budgetary support to NKTI amounted to P1.27 billion in the first 11 months of 2023, a tad larger than the P1.18 billion in subsidies it received in the same period in 2022. —Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral