Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said over 200 personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), an agency under his department, were being investigated for alleged schemes in which applicants were asked to pay for slots in the agency.
‘Kung sa pinapanganak ka pa lang sa institusyon ay korapsyon, korapsyon ka na habang buhay. So, we’ll clean it up. This will be a massive purge,’ Remulla maintained in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Friday.
(If from your infancy in the institution, there’s corruption, then you’re corrupt throughout your tour of duty. So, we’ll clean it up. This will be a massive purge.)
‘Ang iniimbestigahan namin ngayon ay lagpas 200 tao tungkol sa slots-for-sale,’ he noted.
(We’re now investigating more than 200 personnel for slots-for-sale.)
‘As of now, all regional directors are being investigated,’ Remulla further detailed.
(As of now, all regional directors are being investigated.)
He added that the BFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have yet to finalize how many ‘slot-selling’ cases were being investigated.
The secretary also noted that, although the BFP personnel were under investigation, only those who will be proven to have links to the scheme will be relieved from their posts.
‘Binabalaan ko na lahat ng opisyal ng BFP. Lumabas na kayo at umaamin na kayo o hahabulin namin kayo,’ Remulla stressed.
(I am warning all the officials of the BFP. Come clean now or face the consequences.)
Pampanga, Ilocos cases
This came following the recent operation by police in Pampanga arresting a Senior Fire Officer (SFO) 1 assigned to the BFP National Capital Region (NCR), who allegedly contacted an applicant for a position in the bureau’s Central Luzon for an initial P500,000.
At the briefing, BFP officer in charge Fire Chief Superintendent Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu said the implicated personnel had been relieved from her post and was now facing dismissal proceedings.
The PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) previously said the suspect supposedly contacted the victim after the latter’s name was published on the bureau’s social media for the recruitment process.
The police also earlier detailed that the apprehended SFO had allegedly touted to have successfully orchestrated the hiring of four other applicants in the past year.
Remulla said the four other BFP applicants who accepted the implicated personnel’s offer were subpoenaed by the CIDG.
‘They can either testify kung ano yung nangyari or we will charge them because nagbayad sila. If they testify, we will give them clemency because they are as much as a victim. But, they have to come out with all the deeds,’ the DILG chief explained.
(They can either testify kung ano yung nangyari or we will charge them because they paid for it. If they testify, we will give them clemency because they are just as much of a victim. But, they have to come out with all the deeds.)
The CIDG also previously said the arrested SFO named a ‘senior fire commissioned officer’ as a cohort in the purported scheme.
Remulla identified the alleged cohort as a deputy director for administration in BFP Calabarzon.
He added that the other implicated bureau official had since been relieved from his post but had yet to be placed under restrictive custody.
Kwan Tiu also touted that the fire bureau and the police arrested another SFO 1 in the Ilocos Region, who had recently been dismissed by the agency, but he did not provide further details.
‘P15-billion industry’
Remulla noted that the offers in their recorded ‘slot-selling’ schemes ranged between P100,000 and P800,000 per applicant.
He reiterated that, prior to his tenure as DILG chief, erring personnel of the BFP had supposedly made at least P15 billion a year through questionable practices like ‘slot-selling,’ purported kickbacks on the procurement of equipment and additional fees for inspections.
The DILG and the BFP chiefs touted recent reforms to the BFP, particularly the deployment of its electronic hiring system for the 2026 recruitment process.
‘Basta tao ang involved sa selection, doon nangyayari ang corruption. Ngayon, systems-generated na,’ Remulla explained.
(As long as a person is involved in the selection, that’s where corruption happens. Now, the lists are generated by a system.)
Citing the Pampanga case, Kwan Tiu said he will be exploring options with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to protect the identities of BFP applicants.
The bureau, similar to the PNP, publishes its lists of applicants in a bid for transparency.
Earlier this year, Remulla launched an anti-corruption drive within the BFP, starting with criminal and administrative cases against over 40 personnel for alleged anomalies; and the relief of over 900 fire safety inspectors in NCR for alleged questionable practices.
The campaign included the suspension of then-BFP chief Fire Director Jesus Fernandez, whom Remulla accused of facilitating kickback schemes on the procurement of fire trucks and ambulances.
‘Within six months, lilinisin natin lahat yan. Within BFP, matatanggal na rin lahat ng sindikato,’ Remulla maintained.
(Within six months, we will clean that all up. We will remove all the syndicates inside the BFP.)
‘Ang goal ko is to strengthen the institution of the DILG. It used to be very weak. It used to be very porous,’ he explained.