PNP eyes 3-minute emergency response via new 911 service

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) aims for a three-minute response time to emergencies through its new 911 emergency service.

"That's an old standard but remember iba yung reaction ng pulis (the police have a different reaction). It's not just how fast but also how efficient it is. You just don't see it but there is an automatic response that we have done already. We want the response time down to three minutes but we can be faster in an actual scenario," PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said during a simulation of the Emergency 911 Response System at the PNP Command Center in Camp Crame on Friday.

He, however, admitted that some challenges such as traffic congestion and inadequate information provided by callers may affect their response time.

Marbil also said another goal is to connect the system with other emergency responders and local government units (LGUs).

"We are also looking at having interconnectivity the BFP and ambulance services. We would also want to connect with the MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the LTO (Land Transportation Office). Once this happens, the people will see better public service," the PNP chief said.

The PNP's revitalized 911 system was rolled out on the first week of August.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., meanwhile, said the agency has also tapped private firms to beef up the system's ability to pinpoint the caller's exact location for quicker response.

"The LGUs have their own emergency numbers. For now, we stick to that but ultimately, the goal is to be integrated through 911. We are gradually utilizing tehcnology for this measure," he said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, Bernard delos Santos of the Emergency 911 National Office said the modernized emergency 911 system would discourage prank callers as they could now be easily located.

"With the new system all those prank callers first and foremost they can identify and they can locate because of the capabilities of the new system yung ating GPS then yung mga consistent prank callers puwede natin siya maitag so male less priority na siya. Not blocked but less priority," he added.

Delos Santos said under the previous 911 system, they receive up to 50,000 calls per day.

However, only 500 of these calls were legitimate emergencies while the rest were prank and dropped call.

Under the new system, he said 30,000 calls were filtered while 700 of these were legitimate calls.

Ishka Villacisnero, president of Next Generation Advanced 911 Philippines, said the system is incorporated with artificial intelligence which has algorithms that can filter the prank calls.

The DILG chief warned those who make prank calls would face charges under the law. (PNA)