Remulla warns 911 prank callers: ‘One strike, you’re out’

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla warns on Friday prank callers using the government’s 911 emergency hotline that they will be deprioritized for future emergencies. —Gabryelle Dumalag

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla warned on Friday that prank callers to the government’s 911 emergency hotline will be permanently flagged after a single false call and deprioritized in future emergencies.

“One strike and you’re out,” Remulla told reporters in an interview at Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City.

“If you make a prank call to 911, your number will be flagged. If something happens to your family, if something happens to your house, if your house is on fire, you will be the last priority that the 911 system will respond to,” he added.

Remulla said the stern warning comes after data showed that 30 percent of calls received during the second day of full operations were pranks.

“On the first day of trial, we had 11,000 calls. On the second day of operations, 58,000 — and 30 percent of those were prank callers,” he said.

READ: Bank’s 911 call leads to rescue of kidnap victim in Quezon City

Despite the problem, Remulla praised the performance of the newly launched Unified 911 system, calling its first major rescue a “victory.”

On Thursday, a 911 call from a Quezon City bank led police to rescue a 78-year-old Chinese-Filipino businesswoman and arrest 11 suspects within hours.

“I’d like to congratulate the PNP and the Anti-Kidnapping Group for their fine work. I’d also like to congratulate the 911 system for having its first victory,” Remulla said, referring to the rescue of a kidnap victim earlier this week.

He also urged the public to use the hotline responsibly.

“From Tawi-Tawi to Jolo, you can call. It’s just one number now, and our first responders can reach you,” Remulla said./mcm