The first city in the Philippines to boast of a cutting-edge emergency communication command center to respond to the public safety concerns of its citizens is Alaminos, Pangasinan. Before the city, the town of Morong, Rizal had been the first municipality in the country to provide world-class emergency response.
At the National Emergency Response Summit in August 2024, the Philippines’ Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Benhur Abalos stressed the need for a unified, nationwide 911 emergency response system that uses the latest technology, like in the United States and Europe. He exhorted all local government units to put up their own emergency response centers equipped with the latest technology.
“Every city and town must set up its own local emergency call center,” Abalos said. He directed the Emergency 911 (E911) National Office of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to involve all relevant agencies in the mission, emphasizing that advanced technology is a must in emergency response.
E911 National Office executive director Francis Fajardo explained that state-of-the-art emergency response command centers staffed by well-trained and dedicated personnel who can handle crises and emergencies with precision and professionalism will serve as the nerve center for emergency operations in all local government units. He said, “The goal is to provide efficient and effective emergency response services to every corner of the nation.”
Alaminos partners with NGA 911
On September 10, 2024, Alaminos mayor Arth Bryan Celeste and vice mayor Jan Marionne Fontelera welcomed Fajardo, DILG undersecretary Juan Victor Llamas and Pangasinan first district representative Arthur Celeste as the city launched its Next Gen 911 Command Center. To provide its constituents with world-class and complete solutions for emergency communication and public safety services, Alaminos partnered with Next Generation Advanced (NGA) 911, which is headquartered in California, USA.
NGA Philippines is the local subsidiary of NGA 911, which is globally known as the innovator of emergency calling technology and the leader in Next Generation 911 (NG911) emergency communications worldwide. Built on industry standards adopted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) in the U.S. and the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), the NGA 911 system and technology will revolutionize the way and speed with which the LGU can handle emergencies.
Fajardo said local government units are “most capable and should operate their own command centers because they know their own terrain, people and types of emergencies best” and the E911 National Office will support Alaminos and all other local government units that will put up their emergency response command centers. He added, “We will continue to provide guidance and training and route 911 calls, consistent to their activation process.”
“This is no ordinary 911,” Arth declared. “When you call, you’re not going to be patched to another agency. If you call within Alaminos, it’s now the command center that answers. All calls are recorded and give the exact location.”
“No longer do citizens need to remember 11 digits and look for a CDRRM member to get help,” the mayor continued. “What you see in Hollywood movies where someone calls 911, we already have that in Alaminos. This technology will really help our citizens.”
All 911 calls to the command center of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRM) in Alaminos are “now fully recorded and conference and transfer facilities are now seamless,” NGA 911 country head Robert Llaguno said. “Its capability to respond efficiently and accurately to emergency callers has been revolutionized. Now, when someone calls 911, the location of that particular caller is immediately provided and the search radius is limited to just about 5 yards with 90% accuracy.”
The Alaminos emergency response team has already completed its capacity development training, supported by the E911 National Office, according to Llaguno. Response time in Alaminos has been cut from 3 to 4 minutes, the standard response time set by the DILG and the PNP.
CONAN Daily 