DAVAO City’s Central 911 receives around 1,000 calls daily—but only about 100 of them are legitimate emergency calls.
Lyndon Leovic Ancajas, acting head of the Law Enforcement, Communication, and Rescue Division (LECRD) of Central 911 and overall training supervisor of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), reminded Dabawenyos to call 911 only in actual emergencies.
He said many of the calls they receive are prank calls, silent calls, or made by children out of curiosity. Some kids, he noted, call 911 just to check if it really works.
Ancajas reiterated their appeal to parents to teach their children to call 911 only for real emergencies.
He warned that repeat prank callers will be flagged and blocked by the system. Once blocked, even in the case of a real emergency, they will no longer be able to reach 911. He added that they are working with local legislators to address the issue of frequent prank calls.
“Again we are asking everyone to please ayaw ninyo binuangi ang 911 kay ang atoang calls limited lang ang calls madawat per moment (We are appealing to everyone—please don’t misuse 911. Our system can only handle a limited number of calls at a time),” Ancajas said during the ISpeak media forum on Thursday morning, June 26, at the City Mayor’s Office.
Ancajas explained that if someone dials 911 and it just rings, it likely means all 10 lines are occupied. If you’re the 11th caller, you’ll need to wait until a line becomes free.
He also reminded the public to call only when they have complete and accurate details of the incident. There have been instances, he said, where callers report emergencies they simply passed by, offering little useful information, which makes it difficult for responders to act effectively.
Meanwhile, Central 911’s hotline is currently inaccessible to users on the PLDT network, including Smart, Sun, and Dito, due to a technical issue on PLDT’s end. At present, only Globe and TM subscribers can successfully connect to 911.
Ancajas said their office is coordinating closely with PLDT. While some improvements have been observed, the service is not yet fully restored. Test calls are being conducted to assess if issues remain. Once fully resolved, Central 911 will release an official advisory. RGP