The town of Bustos in Bulacan province has just become the first local government unit in Region 3 to be equipped with the high technology public safety communication system used in the US and Europe.
Bustos mayor Francis Albert Juan inaugurated the municipality’s command center last April 21 with National E911 Office executive director Francis Fajardo hailing the move as a milestone to the municipality and the region.
The Bustos Command Center is manned by LGU call handlers trained by the National E911 office, 911 operators working 24/7 and sophisticated monitoring systems and emergency dispatch tools.
Fajardo said the system can quickly and efficiently respond to emergency calls because it can pinpoint the precise location and identity of the caller, among other things.
It integrates seamlessly with other communication systems, identifies and eliminates prank callers, monitors and responds to all calls simultaneously and ensures quick response on the scene of the emergency.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Johnvic Remulla has made a unified 911 system as a high-priority initiative during his term, with the aim of improving emergency response nationwide via a highly reliable, flexible and feature-rich system for handling calls and transmitting information.
“This has been my dream even as a barangay captain – to render good and efficient public service to the citizens of Bustos, to protect and serve constituents and offer hope to our town. Now that we have this system in place, once you’re in Bustos, just dial 911 and we will take care of your emergency, be it fire, crime, petty crimes or vehicular accidents, I know we will respond fast. We are the first to do this in Bulacan and in the whole of Region 3, by the way,” Juan said.
Vehicular accidents are the most frequent reason for emergency calls, said Juan – a statistic shared by Bustos with other LGUs and compatible with data from the Department of Transportation.
