BAGUIO CITY — Telephone companies operating in the city and other parts of the Cordillera are being asked to send advisories to their subscribers in the region as a public service prior to and during a calamity.
“This will allow the subscribers to be informed of the situation, allow them to do preventive measures, prepare, respond, and recover from any type of disaster and emergencies,” Baguio City Councilor Edgar Avila told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview on Friday.
Avila filed a resolution on Thursday, requesting Globe, Smart, PLDT, Sun Cellular, and other telecommunication firms to send weather bulletin and other advisories through Short Message Service (SMS) to give subscribers updated information.
Specifically, Avila requested the telecom firms with signal coverage in the Cordillera to issue updated weather bulletins, road conditions, and other advisories to their subscribers in this upland region.
He said under Republic Act No. 10639 or the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act, which was passed into law on June 20, 2014, telecom firms are mandated to spread information from such government agencies as the local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils, the weather bureau, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
“It is their social responsibility to come up with an information drive through text blasts, informing their subscribers about possible threats such as disasters,” Avila said. (Pamela Mariz Geminiano/PNA)
