DILG to roll out unified 911 system

MANILA, Philippines — Starting Sept. 11, people facing emergencies will only need to dial 911 on their mobile phones as the Department of the Interior and Local Government is set to make the emergency response system operational next Thursday, the DILG announced.

The unified 911 system is a single hotline that replaces more than 30 local emergency numbers.

DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the unified system is their answer to President Marcos’ directive to strengthen family and community safety.

“Every second matters, every call matters, every life matters. This is the government fulfilling its promise that help will always be within reach,” Remulla said in a statement.

He said the country has operated fragmented hotlines, which left callers unsure whom to reach and causes uneven response times.

With the unified 911 system, Remulla said every emergency call – whether for police, fire, medical or disaster response – will be routed through a single integrated network linking the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology as well as local governments.

He added that people need not worry about phone bills as the service is free of charge and available 24 hours a day.

The system is language-sensitive so that calls in Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Waray, Tausug and other local languages can be understood and acted upon.

Remulla earlier said technology provider ePLDT bagged the contract worth P1.41 billion for the installation of the system.

He warned pranksters to refrain from making bogus calls on 911, saying the system has a geolocator to track down prank callers.