Local News: Regional BFP Chief Admits ‘Lack of Qualifications’
Regional Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Chief Eleuterio Iturriaga has admitted on air in an interview over two radio stations that he does not have a masteral degree which will qualify him for his position as Region VI head of the DILG-supervised and administered bureau. The interview was conducted by RMN radio and Aksyon radio in their tandem broadcasts over the weekend.
The two broadcast stations interviewed Iturriaga after the Negros Occidental BFP Chief Fred Trajeras accused Iturriaga of being under-qualified for the posts he is occupying. Adding, Trajeras told anchormen of RMN radio and Aksyon radio in their tandem broadcasts that iturriaga was the only fire chief occupying a regional post in the bureau without the desired qualifications set forth in a national law creating the BFP.
The law states among others, that a provincial BFP and a regional BFP chief must possess the necessary professional qualifications to be eligible for the position. In his radio interviews, Iturriaga made all kinds of excuses for not having made necessary efforts to get a masteral degree but his excuses sounded hollow. In an earlier interview, Trajeras said many of his colleagues cannot understand why Sr. Supt. Iturriaga was able to bag his position without the necessary qualifications when he demands otherwise for other employees, in the BFP.
There are only three fire chiefs in the Western Visayas region who possess the necessary qualifications for their positions and they include the cities of Roxas, Iloilo and Negros Occidental BFP heads.
If he lacks the necessary qualifications, he must be replaced by those who are qualified as this will set a bad precedent in the bureau, Trajeras said.* (Edgar Cadagat)
