Section 2. Declaration of Policy and Principles.— It is declared policy of the state to maintain peace and order, protect life, liberty and property, and promote the general welfare essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy (Article II, Section 5 of the Philippine Constitution) Moreover it recognizes the responsibility of the state to strengthen government capability aimed towards the strengthening of the delivery of basic services to the citizenry though the institutionalization of highly efficient and competent fire and jail services.

It is provided for under Republic Act No. 6975, other wise known as the “Department of the Interior and Local Government Act 1990”, that the task of fire protection, and jail management and penology shall be the responsibility of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), respectively.

Moreover, Section 3 of the Republic Act No. 8551, otherwise known as the “Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998”, provides that in times of national emergency, BFP and the BJMP along with the Philippine National Police (PNP) shall, upon the direction of the President, assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in meeting the national emergency, in addition to the performance of their inherent functions as mandated by law.

It is therefore recognized that the uniformed personnel of the BFP and the BJMP, as member of the uniformed service of the government under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), are required the same amount of sacrifice, service and dedication like their counterparts in the4 PNP and the AFP to carry out their respective duties to the extent of risking their lives and limbs.

Towards this end, the State shall provide for the Professionalization and restructuring of the BFP and the BJMP by upgrading the level of qualifications of their uniformed personnel and standardizing their base pay, retirement and other benefits, making it at par with those of the PNP and the AFP.