By Anne Hazel F. Flores
PIA
SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union—With
the aim of promoting gender awareness development, the Bureau of Fire
Protection (BFP) regional office staged the 1st all-female regional fire
Olympics on April 19 and 20, 2018 at the Poro Point Baywalk.
The BFP Region 1 office
grouped the 75 female contenders into five teams according to their agency’s
offices and competed for the championship trophy.
The female competitors showed
and proved that they are also capable of doing a man’s job as a fireman as they
competed in games patterned after the actual work of firefighters.
“Through the years, women
have indeed proven that they are no longer the weaker sex but as strong as
their male counterparts,” BFP regional director F/Sr. Supt. Maria Sofia B.
Mendoza said.
She added: “A lot of women
have excelled in different fields but now in the fire service, an organization
dominated by men, we women firefighters are empowered because we have been
given an equal opportunity in terms of personal and professional growth.”
BFP generally station women
in the bureau in the office, tasked to perform administrative works, but this
event showed that they are also capable of being in the field.
BFP Regional Office 1 emerged
as the over-all champion; followed by BFP La Union; Ilocos Sur in third place
and the Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
BFP conducted the activity in
partnership with the local government unit of San Fernando and the Poro Point
Management Corporation (PPMC).
To further empower their
women employees, the bureau also conducted a “Firefighters’ Summit” at a resort
hotel in San Juan, La Union on April 23, 2018.
“We women may not have the
strength like our male counterparts but we have the determination and the will
to do our job well as protectors of lives and properties,” said Ms. Mendoza.
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