Cagayan de Oro City to launch emergency hotline

CAGAYAN de Oro City will be launching next week a re-engineered emergency hotline to improve its emergency response and crime prevention.

Allan Porcadilla, officer-in-charge at the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (CDRRMD), said the city patterned its improved emergency response program after Davao City’s Central Communications and Emergency Response Center (Central 911).

Davao's 911 has already received more than half a million distress calls since its inception in 2002.

"We're using the 911 system of Davao City, so basically, pareha ra gyud ni siya sa Davao nga 911," Porcadilla said.

Porcadilla said some personnel of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office, Roads and Traffic Administration, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), will be assigned at the CDRRMD office to accept distress calls from residents 24/7.

He said 911 calls will directly connect to the CDRRMD office, which is also the Operation Center. Whether you are using a landline or a mobile phone with no load, the 911 call will be received and will be attended to by the emergency response team on duty.

All network operators, he said, are partners with the City Government for the callers' convenience.

"Tanan telecommunications company atong partner, para bisan asa ka na subscriber, pwede ka makatawag," he said.

Porcadilla added that once finalized, the people can expect improved and better emergency response.

Porcadilla, however, reminded the public to refrain from making prank calls as this would only disrupt their services.

"The priority of our emergency call 911 is saving people’s lives, not to answer prank calls," he said.

Porcadilla said the new system is one way of the city putting emphasis on calamity preparedness.