Senator Grace Poe has filed a resolution urging the Philippine National Police to operate “an improved 24/7 dedicated direct national emergency hotline similar to the successful 911 system in the US to address crime situations and provide assistance for citizens’ predicaments and other peace and order issues.”
In her resolution, Poe, the chair of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said recent increases in crime volume indicated the need for the hotline in addressing crimes across the country.
“We’re supposedly one of the best BPO countries in the world, with the most reliable call center agents, can’t we have a national 911 system? Wherever you are in the Philippines, you can call and they can determine your location and they can send somebody. This is an investment,” she said.
She said current Hotline 117 did not work in all places.
Poe cited the report of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management that there was an increase in total crime volume in the first five months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 or from 245,347 last year to 289,198 this year.”
In the last case, the crime volume in 2013 was reported at 631,406, around triple the volume in the year before, at 217,812. More than 1/4 of crimes reported between January and May 2014 happened in the National Capital Region.
Poe on Tuesday also urged Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima to cleanse the organization of the so-called scalawags in uniform to prevent a breakdown of the public’s confidence in police.
“Nakakabahala na merong mga ganyan lalo na’t ini-entrust natin sa kanila ang ating kaligtasan. Dapat talagang ipakita ng liderato ng PNP na agaran nilang susolusyonan ito, parusahan nila agad,” she told reporters.
Poe, made the statement in the wake of the involvement of at least eight policemen in the reported abduction and extortion in Mandaluyong City.
“Pairalin natin agad ang hustisya dito para makapagbigay tayo ng mensahe sa ating mga kababayan na huwag kayong mabahala sa kapulisan. Kasi ‘yun ang pinakaimportante, huwag mag-breakdown ang confidence ng mga tao sa mga pulis,” she said. —NB, GMA News
