DILG Promised That 911 And 8888 Hotlines Will Be FREE Of Charge Soon!

According to the report of GMA 7, DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) promised that those numbers will be free of charge soon! This is in response against the 5 Pesos charge that was announced by the telco companies as they're just complying with the rules of the government.

911 And 8888 Hotlines Will Be FREE Of Charge Soon

Gladly, response of the two telco giants in the country to that is quite positive and their willing to comply when the new EO is out.

As to whether PLDT and Smart were willing to make access to the said hotline numbers free, PLDT Group spokesperson Ramon Isberto told GMA News Online that they were "willing to comply," and that they were waiting for the EO that would formally establish the 911 system.

For now, "the existing fee charges under the 117 system will still be continued during the transition stage to the 911 system pending the issuance of a new EO with its implementing rules and memorandum of agreement as entered between the government and the telecommunications companies," the DILG said in a statement.

Globe's Ms. Yolly Crisanto also stated that they only advised the public of that additional 5 Pesos charge based on government requirements.

Then the main explanation why the government needs to charge the additional 5 Pesos is to avoid pranksters from calling. Partly, that is correct, however, in times of real emergencies, doing calls free of charge would lessen the hassle and hasten the processes or procedure in responding to critical conditions.

Starting this August, we can now use 911 for emergencies and 8888 for government complaints.

Great news right?

Source: Gmanetwork