Transcript of Sen. Grace Poe's interview at the Session Hall

On PNP

Q: May statement kayo kanina on getting rid of scalawags sa PNP.

Sen. Grace Poe: Huwag nating kalimutan--156,000 police personnel--siyempre kahit sa isang pamilya 'yan, kahit lima lang kayo, meron talagang black sheep diyan. Meron talagang may problema diyan. Nakakabahala na merong mga ganyan lalo na't ini-entrust natin sa kanila ang ating kaligtasan. Hindi naman natin pwedeng sabihin na kinukundena natin ang buong sistema ng kapulisan pero dapat talagang ipakita ng liderato ng PNP na agaran nilang susulosyunan ito, parusahan nila agad. Kung ang mismong mga titser ang nagpapakita ng maling ehemplo, mas masakit 'yun eh. Pairalin natin agad ang hustisya dito para makapagbigay tayo ng mensahe sa ating mga kababayan na huwag kayong mabahala sa kapulisan. Kasi 'yun ang pinakaimportante, huwag mag-breakdown ang confidence ng mga tao sa mga pulis.

Pangalawa, matagal ko ng minumungkahi, 'yung ating hotline nga. Umpisa pa lang sinabi ko sa kanila, there should be a national emergency hotline. We're supposedly one of the best BPO country in the world, with the most reliable call center agents, can't we have a national 911 system? Wherever you are in the Philippines, you can call and they can determine your location and they can send somebody. This is an investment. I've been asking the DILG how are we going to be able to support this kind of initiative? It was discussed earlier. So please, a national emergency hotline is important because aside from increasing the number of weapons and increasing the number of personnel, we need to be able to catch up technologically. Because technology can make our jobs easier. If you don't abuse it, it will actually make things more efficient.

Q: What about the 117 hotline?

Poe: Kaso nga ang 117 does not necessarily work in all places. There are some places like in Davao, it's 911. But here, 117. Tapos merong inaatake sa puso, kapag mayaman ka, merong lifeline, kapag hindi ka mayaman doon ka sa 117. Ibig kong sabihin, dapat may national talaga. Bakit natin sasabihin na hindi natin kaya ito, kung yung mga call centers nga abroad natutunton nila, kunwari may tawag ka galing Minnesota, alam nila kung nasaan yung kausap nilang kliyente so we can have that technology. But remember that technology can make our job easier, it's not just the number of weapons that we can acquire or the number of personnel, it's making them more efficient.