MANILA, Philippines — Morong, a second-class municipality in Rizal province, is now the very first local government unit in the Philippines to activate a next generation emergency response and public safety system, more popularly known as the 911 network.
Morong Mayor Sidney Soriano and other key town officials signed an agreement with NGA Philippines, the local unit of California-based multinational NGA 911 LLC, in April last year to provide the town with world-class and complete solutions for emergency communication and public safety services.
NGA is known globally as the innovator of emergency calling technology, and the leader in next generation 911 emergency communications worldwide. The NGA NG911 system is built on the industry standards adopted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) in the United States and the European Emergency Number Association (EENA).
A year later, the LGU is now ready to respond accurately and efficiently to disasters, accidents, medical emergencies and other distress calls, using the NG911 state of the art digital technology that can save lives and property in the fastest possible time.
“I welcome you all to the inauguration of the Morong, Rizal Emergency 911 Command Center with Next Generation Advanced technology – the very first in the province of Rizal, the first in the country and in Asia. It has always been our utmost desire to be able to respond to emergencies and crisis situations, effectively and efficiently so that we can provide good public service to the people. Today is the culmination of that dream,” Soriano said.
NGA Philippines country head Robert Llaguno said Morong’s investment in the emergency NGA911 system presently used in the US pioneers the use of technology in the country that will revolutionize the way and speed with which the LGU can handle emergencies.
“All 911 calls to the Morong DRRM Command Center are now fully recorded and conference and transfer facilities are now seamless,” said Llaguno. “There is more efficient dispatch and coordination, because IoT capabilities enhance situational awareness that include CCTV streams, GPS location and other early warning devices that can now be integrated to the system.”
Llaguno said the activation of 911 as Morong’s emergency number is aligned with Executive Order 56 of 2018 that institutionalized 911 as the emergency hotline and nationwide emergency answering point replacing Patrol 117.
“It will not only give Morong, Rizal a shorter 911 dialing code compared to the usual 10-digit cell number of responders. By utilizing the NGA NG911 system, the LGU will also be able to pinpoint with high accuracy the location of the emergency call and associate the same with the closest responders to provide a more immediate response.”
The technology, used in the United States, has changed the face of emergency communications by using internet protocol (IP) technology to transmit voice, text and video messages between callers and emergency responders. It can provide real-time data on the location and condition of callers, which can help first responders make more informed decisions in emergency situations.