MALASIQUI, Pangasinan (PNA) – Residents of Pangasinan may now call 911 for their emergencies after the provincial government activated the emergency hotline and launched the one response command center.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, the Pangasinan Provincial Information Office (PIO) said the 911 emergency hotline number and the one response command center are under the supervision of the Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
The hotline will cater to the different emergencies of residents, including calamities, crimes, and accidents.
Calls will be free of charge. Landline and cellphone can be used. No load, no problem. You can still call 911 even without load, the PIO said.
It added that measures are in place to address prank calls and punish those making them.
Gov. Ramon Guico III signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on August 29 with the Office of the Civil Defense Ilocos regional office and other concerned agencies for the activation of the hotline number.
“Napakaganda at may 911 na tayo. Put the number on all our vehicles. Ikalat natin na may 911 na tayo (This is good that we now have our very own 911. Put the number on all our vehicles. Let us spread the information that we now have our own 911),” Guico said during the MOA signing.
The one response command center houses a unit of the PDRRMO in coordination with other national government agencies such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, and other provincial government departments that will handle 911 emergency cases.
Guico, however, said aside from addressing emergency cases in the province, the provincial government also aims to move informal settler residents from geo-hazard zones to more decent, safe, and livable environments.
“In the future baka ‘yung mga nire-rescue niyo hindi na sa bangka kasi ang plano ‘yung mga nasa geo-hazard zones na informal settlers ay mailipat sa konkretong pabahay, disente, at condo-type (In the future, you might not rescue via boats anymore because we plan that those in geo-hazard zones who are informal settlers will be moved in concrete housing, decent, and condo-type),” he said.
The activation of the hotline was in line with Provincial Resolution 638 approved in 2018.