The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced Thursday a major milestone in public safety communications, revealing that prank and fraudulent calls to the Unified 911 Hotline have dropped sharply from 60 percent in 2024 to just 0.17 percent this year following the implementation of key system upgrades last September.

During the 24th Emergency 911 Commission Conference, officials reported to DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla that the upgraded Unified 911 system successfully handled 872,586 of 884,809 calls from September 8 to 24, posting an impressive 98.62 percent efficiency rate. Of these, only 1,495 were prank calls, while 12,223 were dropped or abandoned.

The drastic decline in prank calls is attributed to the system’s modernization, which introduced geolocation tracking and an active caller directory that deprioritizes repeat offenders and enhances caller verification.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) also reported a 400 percent increase in legitimate 911 calls requesting police assistance — from 4,634 to 19,761 — all of which received timely response. The PNP further noted a corresponding nationwide decrease in prank or nuisance calls.

Remulla has repeatedly reminded the public to use the emergency hotline responsibly, emphasizing that prank calls can delay or block life-saving responses. He also highlighted the need to integrate the National ID and SIM registration systems to deter fraudulent activity.

“Success rate, for me, is reaching the point of emergency,” he said, as he urged the Emergency 911 Commission to regularly evaluate its response performance to further enhance efficiency.

The DILG continues to expand the Unified 911 system through partnerships with the Department of Health (DOH) — integrating the TED and BED dashboards — and with the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) to connect the MAKABATA 1383 helpline.