Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Patrol 117 deluged with kids' prank calls
By Christine Mae Pelayo
SOME children indeed just want to have fun or mischief, as in the case of those who dialed 117.
Records show that most of the calls received by Patrol 117 emergency hotline are from children who just dialed for nothing at all.
SPO1 Rhea Fuentebella told Sun.Star Bacolod they once got a fire call from a group of elementary pupils of La Consolacion College, which turned out to be just a prank.
The team of city fire chief, Insp. Jerry Candido, who responded to the call reported the incident to the school principal.
The children were reprimanded.
All in all, Patrol 117 responded to 104 emergency calls from Sept. 4 to 30.
The prank calls, however, reached 519, mostly from children.
The Patrol 117 Central Hub responded to 43 medical emergencies; 37 public safety calls; 19 fire calls and five crime reports.
Records further show that they successfully responded to 95 calls.
Fuentebella said they also received calls from persistent callers who ask them about almost anything.
"We can never avoid the prank callers who are very persistent. Some ask us kung kakilala ka kay ano? There are also those who want phone sex," she said.
Also, Patrol 117 is sometimes mistaken as the PLDT's emergency line. |
