The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported Philippines’ 911 emergency hotline received 2.54 million prank calls in 2019.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año of the 18.48 million calls to the 911 hotline in 2019, only 37,440 were legitimate calls, which prompted the agency to call on the public to take the hotline more seriously.
“For every prank or incomplete call that you make, there could be other people out there whose lives may be in danger or who need emergency assistance but could not go through because the lines are busy,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said in the statement on Wednesday, March 4.
More than 50% or 9.716 million were incomplete calls, 16,763 were non-emergency calls, and 2.54 million were a fraudulent hoax or prank calls.
Also read: Globe Telecom to charge five pesos for 911 calls to prevent hoaxes
Philippines’ 911 emergency hotline
9-1-1 is the national emergency telephone number for the Philippines. It is managed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and is also referred to by its official name, Emergency Network Philippines (ENP).
On August 1, 2016, the new emergency hotline 911, along with the public complaint hotline 8888, began to deploy nationwide, replacing 117.
9-1-1 is patterned on the same system that was implemented in Davao City by President Rodrigo Duterte while he was still mayor.
911 service is available nationwide 24/7. Depending on the location of the call, a 911 call will route to any of the sixteen existing 117 call centers located in various cities around the Philippines. Each call center serves a single region.
Telecommunications Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said that all calls to 911 will be rerouted to the existing Patrol 117 hotline while the 911 command center is not yet established.