Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito ‘Jonvic’ Remulla called on the local chief executives (LCE) to extend full support to the country’s implementation of the 911 system for a more efficient response to emergency incidents.
During the 7th General Assembly of the League of provinces of the Philippines, Remulla urged the provincial governors to purchase motorcycles for the local police to facilitate the verification on the legitimacy of calls coursed through the emergency hotline as more than 60 percent of the received calls came from ‘pranksters.’
This came about after Remulla reminded the governors of the President’s directive of strengthening the emergency 911 system in the whole country.
“Ito lang ang hihilingin ko sa inyo (governors), bumili na kayo ng motorsiklo. Bigay n’yo sa mga pulis para sila lang muna ang magveverify kung legitimate ang tawag o hindi (This is my only request to you, buy motorcycles. Give them to the police to make them verify first if the call is legitimate or not),’’ Remulla said.
Further, Remulla stressed that purchasing motorcycles for the local police is a small investment for the governors to ensure that government resources will not be deployed or wasted for false emergencies.
“Ayun lang ang investment n’yo, maliit lang naman iyon. It should be enough (That is only your investment, it will not cost much. It should be enough),’’ he added.
During his four terms as Cavite governor, Remulla said that he acquired a total of 800 police cars as logistical support for the local police force to allow them to respond quickly to calls for assistance from the public.
He noted that the national government will shoulder all the expenses for the launching of the nationwide integrated 911 system as the “President recently ordered adjustments to the national budget to support the 911 system.’’
The DILG chief added that towns will also be provided with firetrucks and ambulances to ensure that they will be able to provide quick response to the public during emergencies.
"Ang 911 kasi balewala 'yan kung tatawag ka lang tapos ang response wala rin. Parang nagsusumbong ka lang. So kailangan ma-capacitate natin ang mga LGUs na may kakayanan silang mag respond (The 911 system is useless if you would only call and get no response. It’s more like just pleading. So there is an urgency for us to capacitate the LGUs that have the capability to respond),’’ Remulla pointed out.
The DILG plans to launch the integrated 911 Emergency Response system by June in the Greater Manila area, Cebu and Mindanao, and in each region every month thereafter.