• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) officially launched the SAFE NIR Dial 911 Program yesterday at the Bacolod City Police Office to establish an accessible, technology-driven emergency response system across the province.
The PRO-NIR said the centralized hotline is designed to ensure that citizen calls for help are met with immediate, decisive, and life-saving action, bringing vital law enforcement assistance closer to the public.
The flagship program of PRO-NIR Acting Regional Director Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño is aimed at making policing more visible, responsive, and relevant to every community across the Negros Island Region.
He said it anchored on the PNP focused agenda, the program strengthens the key pillars of Managing Police Operations, Morale and Welfare, Integrity Monitoring, and Resource Management, while complementing the Safer Cities Initiative.
“It is guided by the principle that police officers must be seen, appreciated, felt, and extraordinary in delivering police service and ensuring the safety and security of the communities they serve,” the regional police said.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Government is currently waiting for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to issue a ‘Certificate to Go Live’ to fully operate its own localized 911 system.
Mayor Greg Gasataya, who initiated the direct-response localized setup in September 2025 to bypass external national routing and accelerate emergency response times, recently coordinated with DILG Undersecretary Atty. Jon Paulo Salvahan regarding the final system acceptance.
He said the city already received a certificate of training completion for the 911, and added that all systems are go for Bacolod, in terms of telecommunications.
Gasataya added that the city already has a specially trained IT dispatch team that will be temporarily stationed at the evacuation center in Barangay Taculing.*
