by Jade C. Zaldivar
DAVAO City Vice Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte yesterday grilled representatives of the Globe and Smart telecommunications companies on why the telcos suddenly changed the system of the public accessing Central 911.
The telcos officials appeared before members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod presided by the vice mayor to answer questions why their firms made the move without informing the public and the city officials.
“Okay lang sana if it were made clear from the very beginning, but that was not the case,” the vice mayor said, adding “it had been going on for a long time and the people did not realize it.”
During yesterday’s session, the city council converted itself into a committee of the whole to tackle the issue, with Councilor Pilar C. Braga, SP’s energy committee chair, presiding.
This allowed the vice mayor to join the discussion and ask questions of the telcos representatives.
Duterte minced no words in expressing his disappointment over the telcos’ failure to properly inform and communicate with local officials and that it was the height of irony as they are giant communications companies.
The vice mayor reminded them of the assistance that the city had extended to the companies.
He said he personally went up to the hills and appealed to the New People’s Army rebels “not to touch your satellites because these are for everybody.”
Duterte recalled that there was an agreement between him and the telecommunications companies in 2004 to allow subscribers to contact Central 911 by simply dialing 911 on their cellular phones.
“Is it a matter of revenue? Tell me because everyone knows that you telecommunications companies have earned billions because everyone uses celphones,” the vice mayor asked Melvin Santos, Globe national carrier relations head.
“No, your honor, it has nothing to do with revenue,” Santos said.
Santos explained that since Central 911 subscribes to the local PLDT, the call made by a person from his Globe celphone is transferred from Globe top PLDT first before reaching Central 911. He said the heavy traffic (volume of calls and text messages) could hinder the fast arrival of the message at Cental 911.
Anthony Fernandez, SMART Communications regulatory head, later told the councilors that his company had conducted tests on the problem and have found the reason for it.
He said that when the agreement was reached in 2004, the cellphones were simple, the ones that did not have cameras and other advanced accessories.
He said that tests proved that it was easier for simple phones to access 911, but difficult for so-called smartphones.
Fernandez said smartphones have assigned vanity numbers such as “000,” “112,” or “911.” He said these disturb the codes used in transferring messages from the telcos to PLDT and eventually to 911.
Councilor Rene Lopez also berated the telcos for insensitivity to the welfare of the public by not informing about the matter.
“Being telecommunication companies, you had all the time and opportunity to communicate with the people, through television and other forms of media, but you can not deny you did not inform the people,’ Dr. Lopez said.
“ As I have emphasized again and again, this matter involves life and death. Sunog. Ambulansiya. You should let us know,” the vice mayor said.
Duterte later apologized for the harsh words he had uttered against the telcos on the issue but that it could not be helped because the lives of poor people were involved, referring to the importance of Central 911 in saving lives.
The telco officials vowed to fix the problem in two weeks so the public can contact Central 911 quickly.
