"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- George Bernard Shaw
By Alex P. Vidal
NEWARK, New Jersey -- I would like to reiterate my stand when I wrote last year that I was against the move by authorities to jam cellular phone signals during the Dinagyang Festival highlights.
I grew up in Iloilo City in the Philippines and witnessed how Dinagyang Festival started as a ramshackle religious and cultural activity until it blossomed into a behemoth international attraction.
Since the actual street dancing Dinagyang festivities romped off in the 70's, the real problem was peace and order--drunken revelries, ill-behaved drug addicts and gangs composed of skinny but tattooed teenagers.
No invasion of the third kind. No rebellion. No earth-shaking tumult.
There were some incidents of mugging, snatching, vandalism, acts of lasciviousness, street rumble, stabbing, among other street-level crimes.
The police were able to professionally handle the situation and nipped the troublemakers in the bud.
It's the proliferation of illegal drugs, especially shabu, and the sales of liquor in the streets that should be regulated if not stopped during the week-long festival in the month of January.
Not the "jamming" of cellular phone signals.
JEOPARDIZE
When communication lines are shut down during important events, we jeopardize the comfort and safety of visiting tourists and the residents who give updates to their relatives abroad on what's going on in their locality.
Drug addicts and drunken dolts don't use high-tech communication gadgets to create trouble.
Police deployed in performance areas can manually overpower any amok in the crowd.
No real terrorists from other regions--or even outside the country-- will commit a hara-kiri or kamikaze attack by sneaking inside the well-guarded Iloilo City, surrounded by treacherous rivers, just to sabotage the Dinagyang.
If they intend to extort, bringing an explosive device in Iloilo City is like holding a microphone in public and announcing that they would pee at the Plazoleta Gay.
If they intend to send a political message, they will not only be barking at the wrong tree, they will be in the wrong place of the planet.
Malacanang and the Imperial Manila are several islands and regions away.
The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) initially wasn't keen on recommending the jamming of mobile signals in the metropolis during the two-day Dinagyang highlights on January 27-26, 2018.
Now it's a different story.
Now it's a different story.
NECESSARY
Signal jamming or shutting down cellular phone signals is necessary and effective in events where the visiting VIPs in the country are considered as "security risks."
Especially when the occasion attracts a large number of crowd like the recent Black Nazarene procession, which drew 1.5 million devotees in the streets.
Like when Pope Francis visited the Philippines on January 15-19, 2015. And when state leaders gathered for the APEC Meeting.
Or even during the 2017 Miss Universe coronation night where foreign dignitaries and high government and military officials would be in attendance.
Mobile phone signals may also be jammed if there are special police operations like the raids conducted in the shabu-infested National Bilibid Prison.
The purpose is to prevent terrorists and criminals from sabotaging the events or operations by knocking out their communication.
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