Iloilo City: No signal jamming for Dinagyang
ILOILO CITY—The local government here has rejected the request of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) to block mobile phone signals during the Dinagyang Festival on Jan. 26.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said that while the city recognized the police’s aim to secure revelers during the festival, blocking signals would affect the residents and businesses in the city that “heavily rely on mobile signal transmission, especially during Dinagyang.”
“Mobile communication is necessary not only for personal interactions, but also for ensuring the smoothness of business transactions, promptness of emergency services, and efficiency of public safety measures during the festival,” said the mayor in a Jan. 8 letter to Police Col. Kim Legada, the ICPO chief.
Treñas noted that during the 2023 Dinagyang Festival when signal shutdown was allowed, businesses and delivery services dependent on mobile phones complained of being unable to serve consumers.
“[We believe] that maintaining uninterrupted mobile signal during Dinagyang is essential, and the need to maintain mobile communications far outweighs the benefits of signal jamming,” Treñas said.
The mayor also noted that in “previous implementations of signal jamming in the city have affected not only its intended coverage area, but also areas outside of Iloilo City.”
The 2023 signal shutdown also hit neighboring towns of Oton, Pavia, and Leganes, and even the island province of Guimaras.
Other measures
Police Maj. Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson, earlier said they had other security measures in place for the Dinagyang should the city government deny their request to jam phone signals.
The city government also disallowed signal jamming in the 2024 edition of the festival.
Dinagyang, held every 4th Sunday of January, started in 1968 when Fr. Sulpicio Enderes, an Augustinian priest, with a delegation of the Cofradia de Santo Niño de Cebu, brought a replica of the image of the Holy Child Jesus to Iloilo City.
