To our Guest Speaker, CSUPT WILBERTO RICO NEIL A KWAN TIU, Deputy Chief for Operation, my colleagues in the National Board who are here tonight as well as those in Zoom, our Chapter Presidents and Chapter Officers, corporate sponsors, guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening and thank you so much for your sharing your time with us.
As we ushered the new team to lead our organization, let us all appreciate the efforts and sacrifices of our National First President Ronel. He is instrumental in chartering 20 chapters and expanding our membership base throughout the country. He steered us with so many technical seminars while we are during the pandemic, with corporate social projects aimed to uplift the lives of those affected by calamities and offered our organization’s services to the government by way of performing inspections of the facilities of the government among others. Thank you so much President Ronel. May God bless you more.
Another person I would like to acknowledge is our National Chartered President Paul Roque. Without his unselfish service and dedication to our profession as Fire and Life Safety Practitioners, PIFPO is probably not around and not known in the country as today among fire and life safety professionals. PIFPO is known across the country as the only organization of various professionals practicing fire and life safety because of our Chartered President who is very active since the organization is founded on September 2, 2017. Thank you so much NCP Paul. May God bless you too.
I am standing here before you tonight, first, to ask for your support for our term. The National Board cannot make it without the usual support and cooperation of our members. And particularly, I am asking for another unselfish service from the founding officers and members of this organization.
Second, for this coming year, our focus is the chapter’s strengthening. We will avoid chartering new chapters because we already have the numbers. We will implement programs aimed to activate our members’ support of chapters as well as achieve the competence required in our field. If the members will not cooperate or support then we will delist them. We are not after the numbers, we are after quality members. After all, our profession is Fire and Life Safety. We need members who understand codes and standards and have the attitude of following ethical practices. We do not want members who for the sake of completing the project or securing a contract will compromise the minimum standard of fire and life safety. Chapter strengthening because this will be the last term of the majority of the founding officers of our organization. We want to leave you a strong organization.
Third, our focus and the organization’s strength will be dedicated to achieving the following goals:
- Secure BFP’s accreditation as Fire and Life Safety Training organization and continue with our professional development programs aimed to secure the needed Certificate of Competency for Fire and Life Safety Practitioners. With that, we will continue our partnership with the BFP, our local AHJ, and materialize that with a MOA. For this reason, I am appointing our National Charter President and National First President to lead this initiative. Our President Ronel initiated the construction of a training center atop our existing office.
- We will do our best to gain support from at least one state university to offer a BS in Fire Protection Engineering course. With this, we already devised a curriculum of study, patterned after the fire protection engineering courses being offered in the USA and Europe. We only need to pilot this course. As such, I am creating a Special Committee for the establishment of a Fire Protection Engineering Course to be handled by CP Dr. Pol Zantua, CP Ricky Argamino and Asec Ryan Echano. It will be supervised by our VP for Technical and Professional Affairs, Nards Cornelio, Jr.
- In order to address our quest for a fire rating laboratory, we entered into MOA with DTI CMDF in Silang Cavite. For the coming year, we will do our best to establish such kind of fire rating lab utilizing the existing equipment of CMDF. In order to do this, I am creating another Special Committee on Phil. Listing Laboratory to be spearheaded by PIFPO Cavite under the leadership of its Chapter President Ronnel Amparado and CP Deon Zonio. This will be supervised by our Chairman for Codes and Standards, Paul Roque.
- We want to reach out to other organizations and to our members as well by way of a newsletter. A newsletter, either printed or e-copy, will enable our organization to record and broadcast our activities. With this, I am creating another Special Committee, the Alab Newsletter to be spearheaded by CPs Ed Santos, Ben Wong and Allan Alagos. This will be supervised by our VP for Internal Affairs and Organizational Development, President Nominee 1 Dan Cabrera.
We will not diminish on services even though we have the abovementioned areas of focus for the following term. We have the complete set of officers and all committees are filled up. We just want our members to be active in their respective chapters and the chapter officers to do their part.
We can only achieve our goals if we will work as a team. Let us respect each other and work harmoniously.
Thank you so much and may we have a wonderful and merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year too.
