DILG: Unified 911 system gets 12,000 prank calls daily

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Around 12,000 of the 70,000 calls received daily by the country's Unified 911 system are prank calls, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Wednesday.

Remulla said the prank calls are among the problems affecting the efficiency of the emergency response system.

“Problema namin yung prank calls kasi out of 70,000 calls a day, may mga 12,000 na prank calls. Nakakaantala yun kaya may 6% tayong hindi efficient kasi nakukuha ng oras ng prank calls,” Remulla said in an ambush interview.

(We have a problem with prank calls because out of 70,000 calls a day, there are about 12,000 prank calls. That's why we have 6% that are not efficient because prank calls take up time.)

Despite this, Remulla said the Unified 911 system has an average emergency response time of five to seven minutes.

He said the system has a reported 94% efficiency rate.

Remulla said authorities are working to identify prank callers and remove them from the system to prevent further delays in responding to genuine emergencies.

The DILG chief also said the country's Unified 911 system is drawing interest from other Southeast Asian countries.

According to Remulla, officials from ASEAN countries are visiting the Philippines' 911 center to study how the system operates.

The Unified 911 system is intended to provide a single emergency hotline for police, fire, medical, and other emergency services. —VAL, GMA News