MANILA, Philippines – Actor and performer Basty Askri has raised concerns over an alleged delay in the 911 emergency response after his 71-year-old father suffered a medical emergency in Maharlika Village, Taguig.
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| Photo courtesy: Basty Askri / Facebook |
In a now-viral Facebook post, Askri said he spent nearly 10 minutes calling 911 after his father reportedly suffered a mild stroke.
According to Askri, when someone eventually answered the call, he was repeatedly told to “wait,” while he could hear laughter and conversations in the background.
The situation became even more critical when, according to Askri, his father suffered a heart attack. He said he was forced to perform CPR himself while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
When the ambulance eventually reached them, Askri claimed that it did not have an automated external defibrillator (AED) or sufficient equipment.
He also said that no one immediately took over the CPR, leaving him to continue performing it himself.
Emergency response timeline
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the Emergency Call 911 received the call at around 12:15 p.m. and forwarded it to the Taguig Command Center at 12:17 p.m.
The Taguig Command Center immediately acknowledged the call and reportedly committed to dispatching an ambulance to the location.
However, there was no confirmation during follow-up calls at 4:57 p.m. and 5:56 p.m. on whether an ambulance had actually been dispatched or had reached the area, according to Remulla.
The incident also reportedly involved problems with the shift handover and endorsement of the case.
The official timeline comes amid Askri’s account that he repeatedly heard “wait” from the dispatcher, along with laughter and conversations in the background.
Askri also claimed that the ambulance that eventually arrived did not have adequate equipment to respond to his father’s condition.
‘Galit ako’
Askri said he shared his experience not simply to vent his anger but to call attention to what he described as serious problems in the country’s emergency response system.
“I post this hindi dahil nagtatantrums ako or what,” he said.
“Pinost ko to dahil gusto ko marealize ninyo na dapat lang magalit kayo sa kabulukan na systema ng pinas.”
“Nagm*m*ra ako kasi galit ako,” Askri said in his post, emphasizing that his frustration came from personally experiencing how difficult it was to obtain emergency assistance when a loved one was in need.
“Galit ako dahil naranasan ko mismo kung gaano kahirap humingi ng emergency assistance kapag ang mahal mo sa buhay ay nangangailangan nito.”
“T*ng*n* at kung di kapa galit sa systema, bakit?”
His account has since drawn attention online, prompting renewed discussions about the accessibility, responsiveness, and preparedness of emergency services in the Philippines.
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| Photo courtesy: Basty Askri / Facebook |
The 911 response in the Philippines is the country’s centralized, 24/7 national emergency hotline system managed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). It connects callers free of charge to police, fire, medical, and disaster rescue units, with a target response time of five minutes.
Meanwhile, the DILG said it would conduct an investigation into the reported incident.
The reported timeline and allegations remain subject to investigation. While Askri attributed his frustration to the emergency response he experienced, it has not been independently established that any delay in the 911 response caused or contributed to his father’s death.
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express
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