It’s amazing how Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueño kept his cool.
On Thu, Jul 21, Sueño conducted a test call of the new 911 emergency hotline. It may be recalled that the current administration has said it would like the hotline number up and running by next month.
With reporters observing him at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) office in Quezon City, Sueño placed a call through the hotline and asked for police assistance. The call was featured on GMA’s State of the Nation, a program hosted by Jessica Soho.
A male operator connected Sueño to the police station located on the corner of Baler Street and West Avenue in Quezon City. However, the female operator at the said station ended up asking Sueño to call another number.
This was the female operator’s response: “Hello, sir, tawag na lang kayo sa number na ibibigay ko.”
(“Hello, sir, just call this other number that I’ll give you.”)
The male operator intervened and tried to get the female police station operator to come up with a better response. But his efforts were in vain.
Ideally, the response time to the emergency call should be three to five minutes. However, police got to the NTC office in 10 minutes. Fire officers were able to respond within 20 minutes.
Despite the setbacks, Sueño kept his cool and later admitted to reporters, “Tiningnan ko kanina parang pinapasapasa pa tayo, so we will educate them.”
(“It seems they’re still passing us around, so we will educate them.”)
