MANILA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine police are tracking down prank callers that have swamped the newly launched nationwide quick response hotlines that Filipinos can call during emergencies and report complaints, the police chief said Monday.
A few hours after the government activated emergency 911 and citizen complaint 8888 hotlines on Monday, Philippine National Police Director General Ronald de la Rosa said agents manning the hotlines received a total of almost 2,500 calls in the first seven hours.
However, De la Rosa said that only 75 of these calls were legitimate, while 1,119 were dropped calls and 304 were prank calls.
"We are currently tracking the prank callers," De la Rosa told a news conference at the police main headquarters Camp Crame. He vowed to "unmask" the false callers.
De la Rosa appealed to Filipinos "to refrain from making prank calls or test calls" to the emergency hotlines, saying this will "clog up the lines and prevent the people with real emergencies to reach us."
The hotlines were in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign to stamp out crimes and corruption in government.
De la Rosa said policemen are the first responders for now, saying the 45-station strong call center can directly connect only to police units. He said it would be up to police responders to reach other emergency units.
The government hopes that eventually the 911 hotline will connect callers to police, fire, medical and other emergency units, De la Rosa said.
