Soldiers who have been wounded in battle and discharged from service due to disability could be tapped as 911 dispatchers as soon as round-the-clock public safety answering points (PSAPs) have been approved and rolled out, lawmakers said Sunday.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Johnny Pimentel, Malabon Rep. Federico Sandavor and Western Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento have jointly filed House Bill No. 2743 or the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) 911 Act.
The bill seeks to establish the 911 hotline as the perpetual repository of emergency calls down to the barangay level.
“We want anybody who dials 911 from any point in the Philippines from any landline or cellular phone—whether postpaid or prepaid, with or without call load or credits—or payphones, to be able to make a distress call that is routed right away to the PSAP nearest to the caller,” Pimentel said.
“Soldiers released from service on account of combat-related injury, including those who are wheelchair-bound, would be accorded priority training and employment as 911 dispatchers,” added Pimentel, who is a member of the House committee on national defense and security.
The Duterte administration launched the emergency 911 hotline on August 1 to replace the 117 hotline of the PhilippineNational Police.
“Our bill intends to build a whole system around the 911 hotline, with PSAPs in every region, province, city, municipality and eventually in every barangay. We are actually disappointed that previous administrations failed to recognize the tremendous value of 911 PSAPs in saving lives,” Pimentel added.