FACT-CHECK: Torre did not say 911 hotline responds in five minutes

admin 10:19 PM
CLAIM: Torre said in an interview that the 911 emergency hotline service responds in five minutes.

 

RATING: FALSE

A fabricated quote card has made the rounds in Facebook claiming that former police chief and now MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre III said in an interview that the 911 emergency hotline service responds within five minutes.

Flagged content: A pseudo news page on Facebook, “Intel News PH,” posted a graphic similar to the layout of News5’s, showing two different quotes.

  • The quote shown above came from a controversial Facebook post by social media personality “Basty Askri” that read: “T@n*!na M* 911! T*ng!n4 M# Pilipinas” (sic)
  • The one below shows Torre with a fabricated quote that read: “Mabilis po talaga rumesponde ang 911. Limang minuto lang dumating kami agad. Alam po yan ng taumbayan.”
  • The card also claimed that the statement was made on Aug. 16.

Our debunk: Torre did not claim that the 911 hotline has a fast response time of five minutes.

  • In his personal Facebook profile, Torre debunked the alleged statement and challenged “Intel News PH” to publish any proof of the supposed statement he made on Aug. 16.
  • Torre’s latest statement regarding faster emergency response was dated Aug. 6 where he expressed his confidence in the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s emergency response through its own hotline: 136. He did not mention 911 in the press conference.
  • The photo used in the graphic cannot be attributed to any recent statements. It came from a Jan. 14 post by MMDA’s official Facebook page.

Rewind: “Basty Askri” posted on their Facebook page a strongly worded criticism of the country’s 911 emergency hotline system on Aug. 15. It went viral.

  • In the post, they criticized the alleged failures of the system when responding to an emergency, resulting in their father’s unfortunate passing.
  • Torre, during his 2025 tenure as chief of the Philippine National Police, launched an initiative that promised police response in under five minutes — a pledge that drew significant public scrutiny.

Why we fact-checked this: The misleading post continues to gain engagement despite Torre’s debunk.

  • As of writing, the post has amassed 200,000 reactions, more than 9,400 comments and more than 6,800 shares.

Spot the fake: As 911’s apparent negligence and shortcomings continue to fuel public outrage, posts like this can spread easily and convince unsuspecting social media users.

  • Always verify quote attributions.
  • Make it a habit to cross-reference sources to ensure the veracity of attributed information. 
  • Always think twice and keep your emotions in check before posting and believing anything on the internet. Hurt Allauigan


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