International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue III, March 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Compliance with the 2008 Fire Code of The Philippines (RA 9514): Basis for Intervention

 Jhon Louie A. Pintac, Diomedes R. Pechora, Victoria O. Ligan
Professional Schools, The University of Mindanao, Davao City-Philippines

Abstract- This research intended to establish the extent of citizen’s compliance with Republic Act 9514–the 2008 Fire Code of the Philippines, and introduce intervention strategies for its implementation. The study was a univariate-descriptive approach that utilized secondary data, a consolidated accomplishment report on fire safety evaluation and inspection by the fire stations in Davao City from 2016 to 2018. A total of 115,089 data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to realize the objectives of the study. Results showed that only the business and mercantile structure owners have the highest percentage of compliance at about 45 percent, compared to the rest of the structure owners. Moreover, the data exposed a decreasing trend in the Fire Safety Inspection Certificates (FSIC) issuances from 2016 to 2018, which suggested that more and more building owners did not comply with the fire code every year. Overall, the data implied a high risk of fire occurrences in the city, considering the high percentage of non-compliance with the fire code. Hence, the researcher calls for adopting the proposed intervention strategies recommended in this study to optimize compliance with RA 9514.

Keywords: public administration, RA 9514, Fire Code of the Philippines, compliance, Bureau of Fire Protection

I. INTRODUCTION

Non-compliance to the Philippines’ Fire Code of 2008 resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and billions of properties. As an elaboration, an electrical short circuit burned down the NCCC mall in Davao City on December 23, 2017, and claimed 38 lives (Antonio IV, 2018; Basa, 2017 Colina, 2018; Revita, 2018; Nawal & Lim, 2017; Villamor, 2017a; 2017b). Likewise, on May 13, 2015, a fire broke out at the Kentex Manufacturing factory in Valenzuela City and claimed 74 lives. The worst fire recorded in the Philippines was the 1996 Ozone Disco Club fire that claimed 162 lives (Bautista, 2017; Mayuga, 2018). These are just a few examples of morbid fire incidents. All of these happened due to the very poor or even non-compliance of the fire code.
Following the Fire Code of 2008 is of extreme importance when erecting buildings, structures, and facilities. This code has laid the frameworks for the building code or the fire safety compliance in buildings. So, all structure owners should be mindful of the importance of complying with the building code as the fire was the sixth leading cause of unintentional injury-related death over all ages in 2017 (National Safety Council, 2020).