Palace, telcos: Govt to text public alerts during emergencies

Whenever there are natural calamities, disasters and other emergencies, the public could now expect to receive official government advisories through text messages on their cell phones. This was after the Aquino administration forged an agreement with telecommunication companies Globe, Smart and Digitel/Sun to send free public safety advisories and text messages to their subscribers. At a press briefing in Malacañang, Herminio Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, said the agreement was triggered by false alarms that rapidly spread through text messages following the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last month. “You will recall that … a hoax text message spread like a virus and created a lot of anxiety regarding possible radiation from the nuclear leak in the Fukushima Daichi power plant," Coloma said. Through this partnership, he said, the government and the telecom companies seek to avoid panic, lessen anxiety and build confidence among the people by providing them guidance “on necessary action that our citizens should take to safeguard lives and properties." Official texts will come from 1456 In cases of calamities, natural or manmade emergencies and other similar situations, the public can call the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council at hotlines 911-1406, 912-2665 and 912-5668, Coloma added. Other government agencies can also initiate providing information. The NDRRMC will then transmit the information to concerned offices, bureaus or agencies such as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), and Philippine National Police (PNP), among others, for verification. Once verified, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) will craft an official advisory of the alert or warning. This will be the official message from the government. The PIA will send the message to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) which would then request the telecom companies to send the message to their subscribers. The telecom companies would send such official text messages, using the number 1456, to their subscribers all over the country, when the advisory is of national concern, and certain areas, if it is a local concern. “If [the message] is not from 1456, then it is not an official government advisory," Coloma said, adding that this would help the public discern official messages from hoax messages such as those “being irresponsibly spread from so many sources" during the recent nuclear fallout scare. “With this text blast to be performed by our major telecom companies using the number 1456 to denote that they are broadcasting the official advisory coming from NDRRMC, there is no more need to speculate or to ask questions on the veracity of the advisory," he added. He said the NDRRMC will ensure that the advisory will not only be timely but also accurate. For the meantime, the advisories will be on disasters and emergencies, although sending advisories on terrorist threats and crisis management will also be studied, Coloma said. Asked until when the telecom companies will agree to send public advisories, he said the agreement has no end date. “Simula ngayon at kailanman [It starts now, and will go on indefinitely]. No, [we set no] lapsation date because this is for public service, and our friends from the telcos are willing to work with us for as long as it takes and as it is needed," he said. Telcos: 'We have enough capacity' The telecom companies, on their part, assured the public that their networks are robust enough to allow them to send public advisories on such a massive scale, but at the same time advised the public from sending unnecessary text messages during disasters to avoid clogging the system. “We are continuously reviewing the capacity of our network, we continue to expand them also to ensure that when the time of emergency comes, we will be ready to do our part to serve the public," William Pamintuan, senior vice president for legal affairs of Digitel/Sun, said during the briefing. Ramon Isberto of Smart Communications, for his part, said “in terms of distributing the messages, you know from your own experience that it can be done. Ang importante lang talaga is mahusay yung [The really important thing is to maintain good] coordination between us and the concerned government agencies." Also present during the briefing were Yolanda Crisanto of Globe, Benito Ramos of NDRRMC, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba and PIA director general Jose Favia.—JV, GMA News