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Republic of the Philippines fe? “a
House of Representatives (> RECEIVED
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17 Congress

1* Regular Session

4016

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House Bill

Introduced by HON. BAYANI F. FERNANDO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

will be more

While the concept of a single national emergency hotline is laudable, its effic
than doubled if s cat

Having local emergency hotlines ensures that in the event that there is need for fire, medical,
police or rescue assistance, the first responders such as the Philippine National Police, Bureau
of Fire Protection, local hospitals, Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council,
the Rarangay, ete , will act ina timely, efficient and effective manner as all coordination efforts,
are confined at a local level.

A call to our 911 national emergency hotline will still be referred to the local authorities
anyway, this proposal eliminates at least one level of bureaucracy as far as coordinating with
the first responders is concerned.

A local emergency hotline also guarantees that the ones receiving the calls and coordinates the
response are people who are the primary responders and already familiar with the lay of the
land and with the people within the locality, which is an advantage when responding to
emergencies

A good model is the 161 of Marikina City. However, it has been the experience of the City that
it took them a long time to acquire this number and is limited to one carrier only, Contacting
this number requires adding a prefix of 02 when dialing which added to the confusion. With
this legislation, these hindrances will be eliminated and the telcos will be obliged to take prompt
action,



Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Queson City

17 Congress

1° Regular Session

4016

House Bill

BAYANI F, FERNANDO

Introduced by HON.

AN ACT REQUIRING TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES TO
PROVIDE LOCAL EMERGENCY HOTLINE NUMBERS TO ALL
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the Emergency Hotline for LGUs Act of
2016.

Section 2. Institutionalizing Local Emergency Hotlines. ~ All telecommunications companies,
providing landline, VOIP, wireless or mobile communication services, are hereby required to
provide a common 3 or 4 digit hotline number to serve as a local emergency hotline within 90
days upon request of a Local Government Unit covered under their service area. In this
instance, a local government unit shall refer only to a city or a municipality.

Section 3. LGU Role. ~ The LGU may establish a call center to service all calls to the
emergency hotline assigned to the LGU. The call center shall then coordinate with the
concerned responders within the LGU such as the Philippine National Police, Department of
Health- operated hospitals, Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and other government
and non-government agencies / organizations that may be needed to respond to the emergency
at hand

Section 4. Hotline Limitations. ~ The hotline numbers provided shall be “call only” hotlines
and must be reachable via cellular phone or landline of any telecommunications provider,
without the need for a prefix or area code, All calls to the emergency hotline shall be charged
a reasonable rate by the service provider chargeable against the account of the caller. This is to
discourage prank calls.

Section 5, Penalties for Prank Calls. — Any person found to have made a prank call, false report
or complaint, misrepresentation of facts in accessing the local emergency hotline shall be
subject to the following penalties:

1. 1" Offense — Five Thousand Peso Fine
2. 2"! Offense — Ten Thousand Peso Fine and Suspension of the account of the caller


3, 3" Offense — Twenty Five Thousand Peso Fine, Termination of the account of the caller
and imprisonment of 15 ~ 30 days

4, 4" and Succeeding Offenses ~ Fifty Thousand Peso Fine, Termination of the account
of the caller and blacklisting of said caller from securing an account from all
telecommunications companies, imprisonment of 30 — 180 days at the discretion of the
court,

Section 6, Exemption from Anti-Wiretapping Act. - All calls made to the assigned emergency
hotline constitutes as a waiver by the caller of the protection granted under Republic Act 4200
or the Anti-Wiretapping Act and the recording of the call shall be available as evidence against
the caller.

Further, any telecommunications company may be compelled through a subpoena duces tecum
issued by a duly authorized government agency to disclose the name, location, among other
details of the owner or subscriber of the telephone line where any act contrary to the provisions
of the preceding section was established to have originated.

Section 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Information and
Communications Technology and the National Telecommunications Commission shall
formulate and issue appropriate implementing rules and regulations necessary within 90 days
after the passage of this Act for the efficient and effective implementation of all provisions of
this Act.

Section 7. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, memorandum circulars
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby amended, repealed or modified
accordingly.

Section 8, Effectivity. ~ This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved.