Don’t abuse, misuse 911 hotline, Sueno urges public

The administration’s 911 hotline

A total of 4.5 million calls have been received by the country’s emergency hotline 911 last year. Only two million, however, were calls about legitimate concerns, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday.

Since the 911 was officially launched as the national hotline in August, Interior Secretary Mike Sueno said it received an average of 30,000 to 35,000 calls per day.

But of 4.5 million calls, only 2,239,987 or 49% were legitimate calls, 36% or 1,638,551 were incomplete calls, and 15% or 660,476 were illegitimate calls.

With this, Sueno asked the public not to abuse and misuse the hotline.

“Each call is very important because someone who is facing a life and death situation might be on the other side of the line asking for our help,” Sueno said.

The DILG then cited a report the 911 received in January 17, 2017 wherein 28 passengers of a sinking cargo vessel near Tacloban City were rescued.

A retired Police Major Albert Juan reported the incident to 911. One of the passengers is his neighbor, Jose Sablante, Jr.

The report was immediately coordinated by the 911 operator to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Command Center which related the incident to PCG District Eastern Visayas for appropriate action.

Four vessels were immediately deployed by PCG to the area which led to the rescue of 28 M/V Meridian Tres crew members including Sablante.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are among the major  responders to emergencies reported through the hotline.