Alab

This is a documentary that follows volunteer firefighters as they respond to emergencies during the Philippines’ fire prevention month. It offers a peek inside the fire station brotherhood and the raw, emotional struggles of their everyday battles to save a life, to rescue a comrade. Footage from helmet and body cameras, as well as file videos, of the volunteers battling raging infernos give viewers a rare inside look into what goes on inside fire incidents all over the metro.
The piece encapsulates the meaning of camaraderie in the fire service as they tell of the story of how they recovered from the brigade’s most devastating loss in twenty-one years… that of Mark Steven Relucio, a 20 year-old volunteer in Caloocan City Filipino Chinese Fire Prevention Association. Mark was one of four volunteer firemen that perished in the 1997 Caloocan garments factory fire.
Emotional interviews with his colleagues, news reports from that time will help tell the story of the young man that gave his life in service. Mark also left behind two diaries that detailed his experiences responding to fire in the four years he volunteered. Mark will tell us in his own words the simple joys of receiving his first uniform, accepting thanks from victims of fire for a job well done, the adrenaline rush of responding to a huge emergency. He also vividly expressed his sorrow in saying goodbye to a colleague leaving the service, failing to save a life. In the end, Mark and the rest of the volunteer firefighters teaches us the value of serving without expecting anything in return, and keeping that “alab” alive.