CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City’s Command Control Center (C3) has opened four mobile phone lines to the public for faster response during emergency and disasters.
These are 0932-537-7770 and 0923-524-8222 (Sun) and 0947-178-9999 and 0947-178-0000 (Smart).
The telecom companies turned over the mobile phone units with the hotline numbers to the city government yesterday.
Ramjun Magadan, Smart Junior Trade Marketing Operating Manager, said the command center has now a wider reach, considering that there are more people who have mobile phones. The public could only reach the command center through landline before.
“Karon man gud, nakita namo nga aron magamit ni nimo, kinahanglan ka og landline. So karon, cellphone naman kadaghanan gigamit sa mga tao. Same rates apply to normal transactions pero naka-advantage lang is makatawag ang walay landline,” he said.
He, clarified, though, that the existing landline numbers, 166 and 262-1424, are still working.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Council, said the center responds to any legitimate concern, not just to concerns relating to disasters and calamities.
“Not only during calamities, but also in the collection of garbage, unlighted posts, domestic problem, peace and order, needs police assistance, the passengers need assistance, ambulance service,” he said.
While the center can be reached 24/7, Tumulak appealed to the public to refrain from making prank calls.
“Any call coming from these numbers is considered emergency. Muhangyo lang mi sa mga public nga please intawn ayaw lang tawn gamita ning mga numbers for prank calls. Ang atoa is emergency calls nga ang answer time is not less than five minutes and dili mulabaw sa five minutes nga responding time,” Tumulak said.
He said that the landline numbers have been in place for a month now and have enabled city personnel to respond to emergencies like fires even outside the city’s jurisdiction.
Tumulak said the thrust of the city government is to address concerns the soonest possible time.
Mayor Michael Rama, for his part, thanked the generosity of the mobile networks. He said this development will benefit Cebu City, especially that it will host major international events like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2015 and the International Eucharistic Congress in January 2016. — /JMO (FREEMAN)