Just when President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was about to conclude the situation briefing in Bangued, Abra on Thursday, July 28, a local official took the floor and voiced out the province's long-standing concern on emergency response, imploring the President to act on them.

Before the Chief Executive, legislators, and other Cabinet members, La Paz Mayor Joseph Bernos spoke of the decades-long emergency woes of Abra, which took the hit of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on July 27.

After Abra delivered a massive win for Marcos during the election, Bernos said the time has come for them to be repaid.

"I'm speaking on behalf of the 27 mayors po of the 27 LGUs (local government units), I would like to take this opportunity na magpatulong po sa inyo na sana po palakasin natin ‘yung disaster response ng mga LGUs (to seek help from you to strengthen the disaster response capability of the LGUs)," Bernos said.

Uninterrupted, Bernos went on to give the President an overview of Abra's disaster response status.

Bernos said that Abra has 16 fire stations but the province only has four working firetrucks. The province does not also have enough available ambulances, promoting them to always "beg from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)” to borrow ambulance.

The mayor noted that additional firetrucks in Abra are necessary due to fire incidents that usually occur during a strong quake.

"So this time, siguro naman po open na lahat ‘yung request namin (perhaps all our requests are open) because may (we already have an) Ilocano President na kami and we delivered 96 percent of the votes of Abra during the last election, so tingin ko kami naman po ang maniningil ngayon (I believe, this time, it's our turn to be repaid). Mr. President, maraming salamat po (thank you)," Bernos said.

Marcos recognized the issues mentioned by Bernos about Abra's disaster response capability is actually worse than other provinces in the region.

"All your comments are well noted. And asahan n'yo (you can expect), of course, we will look into it ...but the problem of firetruck and ambulance is worse here than in other provinces, so naiwan kayo (you've been left behind) when it comes to that," he said.

Bernos further tried his luck and requested from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) if the agency could give a few of its brand new firetrucks, which were brought to Abra for the response mission, to the province.

"Baka pwede po Mr. President na iwan na lang ‘yung iba dito because of all the municipalities in Abra, we have 16 fire stations pero of that, apat lang po ‘yung may naka-top condition na firetruck (only four are on top condition), so sana po iwan na lang ‘yung firetruck dito (so, we hope they leave some of the firetrucks here) with the permission from the good SILG," the mayor said.

The President, however, did not make a comment on this, instead he told Bernos and DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos, who was also present during the briefing, to discuss the request.

"Pag-usapan n'yo baka makumbinsi mo. Malakas ka naman sa kanya, e. Magkaibigan naman kayo, e (You talk to each other perhaps you can convince him. After all you're friends)," Marcos said before officially ending the briefing.