DILG says manpower handling ‘911’ hotline inadequate
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 4) —The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday said it needs an additional budget for its ‘911’ emergency call centers as calls have ballooned to 60,000 per day since it was introduced in 2018.
“Currently, Sir, the 911 service is receiving about 60,000 per day for which ideally, we’ll have a shift of 60 personnel per shift, but right now, we only have a budget for 11 personnel per shift,” DILG Undersecretary Lord Villanueva said during a Senate committee hearing on the proposed 2024 budget of DILG and its attached agencies.
Villanueva said that they need more manpower to accommodate all the hotline calls.
“Our principal concern po for it is the budget for fiscal year 2023, we requested a proposed budget of P280 million but the budget granted was only P26 million,\” he said. \”Same for fiscal year 2024, P306 million was requested but only P26 million was granted.\”
Villanueva said for normal operations, the service should be directed to local call centers but due to the inadequate centers, the calls are being directed to its headquarters.
“…Currently there are about 22 local call centers, set-up and funded by various LGUs across the country,\” he said. \”Now if there are no local call centers then the call will be directed to the over-all national headquarters.\”
Sen. Win Gatchalian then asked Villanueva if the country would be ready for a US style 911 hotline system.
Villanueva said that if given the budget, decentralizing the 911 service like in the US will make it a “viable emergency system.”
“What’s important here is not only receiving and processing the calls but also sending the message to policeman on the streets, to the ambulance of the hospitals, to the tanod of the barangay, that’s the response time that we need to shorten,” Gatchalian said.
