6 in 10 Inquirer readers say no to ‘911’ call charge

A majority of INQUIRER.net readers and followers on social media said telecommunication companies should not charge the public for calling the 911 emergency hotline, an online survey showed.

The informal survey, conducted on social media sites Facebook and Twitter, showed that six in 10 respondents said “no” when asked if the companies should charge callers to discourage prank calls.

SCREENGRAB FROM TWITTER

On Twitter, 1,185 netizens responded to the survey, results of which showed 64 percent saying no and 29 percent saying yes. Seven percent remained uncertain.

SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK

Meanwhile, out of the 1,130 Facebook users, 65 percent said they disagreed with the plan of the telecommunication companies while 30 percent agreed. Five percent said they “can’t say” or decide on the issue.

Globe Telecom earlier said that it was ready to comply with the government directive to launch the country’s emergency hotline. However, it said it will charge 911 callers an additional P5 on top of regular voice charges. It said the higher charge is supposed to discourage prank callers. KS/IDL/rga

READ: Globe to charge 911 calls to discourage prank calls

(Editor’s note: The Inquirer poll is not a scientific tool and is only meant to measure the pulse of its readers.)