By Perla Lena | Philippine News Agency
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) simultaneously activated four satellite command centers for the Unified 911 System, the country’s nationwide emergency hotline, in a rollout ceremony in Leganes, Iloilo, on Thursday.
The activation addresses the language and response-time gaps by placing dialect-sensitive, locally staffed emergency coordination hubs in key regions across Luzon and the Visayas.
In Western Visayas, the command center has five work stations with 20 trained emergency communicators who can communicate in local languages, including Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a, as well as English and Tagalog (Filipino).
Since the activation, the center has already received 39,987 calls and responded to 303 verified calls.
The three other satellite command centers also address communication barriers.
The center in Batac, Ilocos Norte can communicate in Ilocano, Tagalog, and English; Cauayan in Isabela, in Ilocano, Ibanag, Yogad/Gaddang, Tagalog, and English; and Tacloban in Leyte in Waray (Waray-Waray), Cebuano, Tagalog, and English.
Philippine National Police Chief PGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., who led the launch, said the initiative is a commitment of the national government and implemented by the DILG.
It is a convergence of the services of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and local government units (LGUs).
He committed the support of the PNP as they are continuously studying to ensure faster response time.
“With the Philippine National Police, we have programmed more motorcycles, body-worn cameras, and vehicles for faster response time and other equipment for the protection of our police,” he said.
BFP officer-in-charge F/Chief Supt. Wilberto Rico Neil Ang Kwan Tiu said they are planning to install monitoring chips in their firetruck ambulance to monitor their whereabouts when responding to emergencies.
Meanwhile, Nartatez said the three other command centers have so far received about 150,000 calls since the activation, but they expect more due to prank calls.
He sternly warned that a phone number used for prank calls three times will be blocked by the system, making it difficult for them to seek help when there is a real need.
