Soon, text-crazy Filipinos will get alerts in their mobile inboxes that read something like this: A strong typhoon is approaching the eastern coast of the Philippines, please exercise caution and contact your local disaster office for more information.
The alerts are part of a new law signed by President Benigno Aquino III that requires telecommunications service providers to send warning messages at regular intervals in the event of impending storms, typhoons, tsunami or other calamities.
The government’s disaster agencies, including the weather bureau, already issue such alerts through TV, radio and social media, and the new law, which takes effect next month, is aimed at addressing a gap in the information flow.
“The alerts shall consist of up-to-date information from the relevant agencies, and shall be sent directly to the mobile phone subscribers located near and within the affected areas,” the new law reads.
The alerts should include contact information of local government units and other agencies required to respond to the situation. The law also requires that the mobile alerts be sent free-of-charge, either as a text message, multi-media message or email.
Any telecommunication company that violates the law could be reported to the National Telecommunications Commission, with penalties ranging from prison terms of up to six months and fines of up to 10 million pesos.
The Philippines is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the world given its vulnerability to tropical storms and its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area known for high levels of tectonic activity. Nearly two dozen tropical cyclones passes through Philippine territory every year, while earthquakes are recorded nearly every day, some of them strong enough to cause damage.
Typhoon Yolanda-Haiyan, which ripped through the central Philippines just a month after a devastating earthquake, killed more than 6,200 people and displaced millions.
The growing economy also has high mobile penetration rates – almost everyone in the Philippines has a cellular phone, some more than a couple, and it is among the world’s texting capitals.--Source: Wall Street Journal