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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Monday, January 16, 2017
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ILOILO City – There is no plan to jam cell phone signals during the Dinagyang festivities this Saturday and Sunday, according to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
During the recent feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Metro Manila, the Philippine National Police jammed cell phone signals as part of the security measures for the annual religious event that attracted millions.
Such security measure, however, has not been discussed within the ICPO for the Dinagyang Festival, said Senior Inspector Shella Mae Sangrines, city police spokesperson.
“Some sectors here may have expressed concern about it perhaps due to the recent Black Nazarene feast security measures in Manila. But no, we don’t even have the equipment to jam cell phone signals,” said Sangrines.
In several incidents in Mindanao, including the Davao City bombing in September last year, suspected terrorists detonated improvised explosive devices using cell phone signals.
The two-day highlights of the Dinagyang are on Jan. 21 (Kasadyahan contest) and Jan. 22 (ati-ati tribes contest). In recent years, spectators were observed to record these events in their mobile phones and tablet computers and upload them right away in their social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among others.
Sangrines assured the public that ICPO was continually monitoring the peace and order situation. No security threat has been monitored, she stressed.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog appealed for the support of the Ilonggos in ensuring that the 2017 Dinagyang Festival is free of crime and illegal drugs.
Making the festival drug- and crime-free is aligned with the peace and order thrust of President Rodrigo Duterte, he stressed./PN
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