Photo credit: Sky Gavin
As shared by Sky, she was cruising the C5 road yesterday when she spotted a vehicle that has a 911 imprint. As you can see in the picture, the vehicle looked like it is going to be used as a 911 dispatch.
I got curious as I only saw 911 in the US and in Davao. In addition, one of President Duterte’s platforms is to have the 911 available to every “Juan.”
Spotted when we visited Davao earlier this year. Davao’s central 911 was established in 2002 and initiated by the City Government of Davao and the Davao Light and Power Company with the help of then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Davao City Central 911 became only the third locality in the world that utilizes 911 as its emergency number, next only to the United States and Canada.
So, the question is: Is this similar to his platform?
I did a quick online research about www.pilipinas911.com and as seen on the website:
Pilipinas911 Inc. is the only privately-owned emergency dispatch company in the Philippines whose employees (call-takers, dispatchers, etc.) are internationally-trained and certified for emergency management. We provide emergency assistance to our members through our call-takers who provide guidance over the phone on what to do while our dispatchers assess and route emergencies to the necessary responder/s that can come to our members’ rescue: Police, Fire, and Medical.
This 911 service is apparently available nationwide
Screenshot from their website
How does it work?
First, you need to register on their website. Within 24 hours after the successful registration of your on-line payment, SMS registration (Pilipinas911 Lifesaver), or duly accomplished Application Forms with corresponding payment, you can use it accordingly. Unlike in the US, this service is NOT free (for now).
Luckily, I had a quick online chat with Pilipinas911’s Ruel Kapunan. He explained that for now, their service is subscription-based since they are not a government agency.
In verbatim, “In as much as we want to serve everyone, we have to sustain ourselves by generating revenue. Currently, the way we earn is by Companies enrolling their employees and making our service an employee benefit. Anyone can subscribe, however, but we currently do not market it aggressively since our focus really is the Corporate market.”
As seen on their website, to fully maximise the benefits, you must register and subscribe to either of the below plans:
However, non-private assistance (police, fire or coast guard) is free of charge.
I genuinely hope this service would be FREE and available to everyone, especially to unfortunate people.
What are your thoughts about this? Join our discussion here.
