THE 21st Davao City Council approved on third and final reading an ordinance establishing the Davao Smart Emergency Response and Locator–Computer-Aided Response and Emergency Dispatch (Seral-Cared) system to enhance the city’s emergency response operations.
Proposed by Councilor Bonz Andre Militar, chairperson of the Committee on Information Technology, the ordinance seeks to modernize emergency services to address rapid urbanization, population growth, and the challenges of reaching far-flung barangays.
The Seral-Cared system will provide a GPS-enabled, geospatially integrated, and digitally coordinated platform for faster dispatch and accurate caller location tracking. The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), in coordination with the City Information Technology Center (CITC) and other city departments, will manage the system.
Key components include GPS-based caller location tracking, geospatial mapping, a barangay geo-tagging registry, a mobile emergency application, responder GPS tracking, and data privacy compliance in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Funding will come from the CDRRMO’s allocated budget or other national government sources, subject to existing budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules.
Penalties for violators
Section 11 imposes administrative sanctions on government personnel who intentionally delay or refuse to integrate or update required data for the Seral-Cared system without a valid reason.
Section 12 outlines penalties for individuals who misuse the system or its mobile application, including prank or false emergency reports, fake GPS signals, unauthorized access or hacking, harassment via the app, and repeated non-emergency use that disrupts operations.
Penalties escalate with repeated offenses: a first offense results in a written warning and mandatory orientation; a second offense carries a ₱2,000 fine or eight hours of community service; a third or subsequent offense incurs a ₱5,000 fine or up to 30 days imprisonment plus additional criminal charges. Parents or guardians will be held liable for violations committed by minors, and separate civil or criminal actions are allowed as long as double jeopardy rules are observed.
Prank callers to face penalties
Militar, speaking at the Pulong-Pulong sa Dabawenyos on November 27, 2025, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod, said the Seral-Cared system is nearly complete, and the ordinance’s passage allows authorities to penalize prank callers to 911.
Based on CDRRMO reports, Central 911 receives thousands of calls daily, but only 30 to 40 are legitimate.
“The system can filter prank calls, and we can penalize the prank callers, especially when we deploy resources. We can now impose penalties,” he said. RGP