Leganes hub puts Iloilo’s 911 calls on a faster track

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) led the simultaneous multi-region launch of new Unified 911 Satellite Command Centers in Leganes, Iloilo, on Thursday, June 4, to localize frontline response and reduce emergency response times.

The Unified 911 Emergency Response System simultaneously activated four new Satellite Command Centers (SCCs), extending faster, more reliable, and more resilient emergency assistance to millions of Filipinos.

The Unified 911 system, administered by the DILG with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) as the primary answering agency, serves as the country’s single emergency hotline, consolidating police, fire, and medical response under one number.

The four SCCs are located in Batac City, Ilocos Norte; Cauayan City, Isabela; Leganes, Iloilo; and Tacloban City, Leyte.

Calls to the 911 hotline in the covered regions will be routed to these centers, where BFP responders will answer in English and Tagalog, as well as local languages including Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Ibanag, Yogad, Gaddang, Waray, and Cebuano.

The Leganes center, activated ahead of the official launch in April, is currently serving Western Visayas’ five provinces and has logged 38,987 calls while responding to 303 verified emergencies.

The new SCCs complement the system’s National Command Center in Metro Manila and the Visayas Regional Hub in Cebu, strengthening the country’s capacity to receive emergency calls, dispatch responders, and maintain operations during major disasters and network disruptions.

Each center is linked through dedicated communication lines with the National Command Center, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), local disaster offices, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the BFP, the Department of Health, and the Philippine Coast Guard.

The Leganes launch was led by PNP chief Police Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and the BFP’s officer-in-charge, Fire Chief Superintendent Wilberto Rico Neil Ang Kwan Tiu.

Local mayors were also in attendance, including Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu, Leganes Mayor Vicente Jaen II, and New Lucena Mayor Carl Vincent Mondejar.

In a statement, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the expansion marks another major step in building a truly national emergency response system that ensures help is always within reach.

“Today, we have one number, one platform, and one unified system for emergency response. Now, more Filipinos will be reached by fast and reliable government services,” Remulla said.

Nartatez said the system has protections against prank calls through grid coordinator location features that determine a caller’s identity and verify whether an actual emergency exists.

Three prank calls from the same number will result in the caller being blocked from the system.

He added that the PNP and BFP are coordinating with local governments, which have the resources to respond quickly.

“Our local government units, the mayors, the governors, are committed [to the Unified 911 system] because they have the resources. [The PNP’s] resources are just inherited from them, like the patrol cars that they give us, and to the [BFP] as well,” Nartatez said.

Also present were Police Regional Office 6 officer-in-charge Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño, NGA 911 Philippines President and Chief Financial Officer Ishka Villacisneros, and PLDT Enterprise Senior Vice President and Head Blums Pineda.

NGA 911 provides the cloud-based technology that powers the Unified 911 platform, while PLDT delivers the telecommunications infrastructure connecting emergency callers and responders nationwide.