117 (emergency Telephone Number) - History

History

Prior to the inception of 117, emergency services were reached through a myriad of telephone numbers. The fire department in Manila, for example, had fifty telephone numbers, one for every fire station in the city. At the time, 117 was solely used in the Metro Manila area by the Philippine National Police for the reporting of ongoing crimes as part of a program called the "Patrol 117 Street Patrol Program" in cooperation with the Foundation for Crime Prevention. Efforts to expand the capabilities of 117 began in the 1990s, starting with the addition of emergency medical services to the scope of 117 in Metro Manila through a private-sector initiative called Project EARnet (Emergency Assistance and Response network).

Government involvement in the expansion of 117's scope began in late 1998, when the DILG announced the formation of Emergency Network Philippines, a project that sought to support a national emergency telephone number in order to enable the faster delivery of emergency services to the Filipino people.

On August 8, 2001, a memorandum of agreement was signed between the DILG and Frequentis, an Austrian company specializing in communications and information solutions in safety-critical environments, on the implementation of the ENP project. The National Economic and Development Authority approved the project later in the year, and project funding was secured with a loan agreement being signed between the Philippine and Austrian governments on December 6.

By virtue of Executive Order No. 226, 117 became the official national emergency telephone number of the Philippines on July 14, 2003.

The P1.4 billion project was completed on August 2, 2003, with the opening of a new 117 call center in Quezon City, serving the entire Metro Manila area. Four more 117 call centers were opened in 2006, and the full 117 network, consisting of sixteen networked call centers, was rolled out in 2007.