BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas, together with the city council, stood firm that there will be no signal jamming in the upcoming Dinagyang Festival 2024.
This comes after Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director Colonel Joeresty Coronica said that there will be no suspension of mobile phone services during the celebration of the world-class festival.
Coronica said the ICPO will find alternate measures to prevent possible bombing incidents and other threats to peace and order.
“Ang epekto sang signal jamming asta sa Oton, asta sa airport. Ang mga LGU [local government unit] man didto nagreklamo sa amon nga apektado ang ila lugar. So ginpaiway na gid lang sang aton nga city council kag ginpabalo ko man ang akon nga city director nga hindi na kita (mag-signal jamming),” Treñas said.
The supposed mobile phone signal jamming only in specific areas during the two-day Dinagyang Festival 2023 highlights spilled over to other areas as far as Guimaras province and nearby Iloilo towns, stirring adverse reactions from the public.
It was the Philippine National Police, in charge of Dinagyang security, that requested the National Telecommunications Commission for the phone signal jamming. It sought the support of the city council.
The city council, for its part, approved a resolution on the temporary shutdown of telecommunications signals from Jan. 21 to 22.
Telecommunications companies here, however, later explained that they have no capability to confine a mobile phone signal jam to specific areas only, and the only way for them to comply with that directive was to temporarily shut down or cut off all cell sites.
Apart from revelers, delivery riders lamented that their livelihood was disrupted because of the phone signal jamming, which was supposed to cover these areas only: Plaza Libertad, Freedom Grandstand, Plazoleta Gay, the provincial capitol, a portion of the Iloilo Terminal Market, Robinsons Place mall, and Ortiz Street, City Proper.
With the decision among the city council, ICPO and Treñas not to implement signal jamming at all in the upcoming edition of the festival, the city mayor expressed relief.
“I’m happy with that (no signal jamming) because mabantayan ta lang sang maayo ang aton nga mga sitwasyon, ang aton ya (judging) areas, and ginatulugan man na sang pulis kag sigurado ara da ang mga ido (K9 dogs),” Treñas added with the belief that Iloilo City will still be safe.
Meanwhile, Coronica said that the ICPO has communicated about safety preparations with other law enforcement agencies since November.
The ICPO aims for zero-crime incidents for the said event, Coronica added./PN
