ICPO seeks signal jamming, gun ban for Dinagyang 2026

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan and Jennifer P. Rendon

The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) has renewed its request for temporary mobile signal jamming in selected areas during key days of the Dinagyang Festival 2026 as part of its security preparations.

ICPO spokesperson Police Maj. Shella Mae Sangrines said the police office has pushed the Sangguniang Panlungsod to pass a resolution requesting the National Telecommunications Commission Region 6 to temporarily shut down mobile signals in specific festival venues.

Sangrines said the ICPO sent a formal letter to the city council through Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu on Nov. 18, 2025, recommending signal jamming, if feasible, in areas where major Dinagyang events will be held.

She said the proposed signal shutdown would be limited to the Freedom Grandstand and the Iloilo Sports Complex, which will host the Dinagyang and Kasadyahan competitions that traditionally draw large crowds and require heightened security.

The request forms part of the ICPO’s Major Events Security Framework for Dinagyang, which includes layered security measures to prevent threats during large public gatherings.

The city government previously rejected similar signal-jamming proposals for the 2024 and 2025 Dinagyang festivals.

“Whatever the wisdom of the city government is, we respect that. The Site Task Group Dinagyang does not solely depend our security principles or framework in implementing signal jamming in some areas where the highlights are,” Sangrines said in a phone interview Monday, Jan. 5.

“We are not totally dependent on signal jamming. We could still assure that we are at full alert. We will deploy personnel, uniformed and non-uniformed, with other partner agencies that will secure and monitor Dinagyang,” she added.

ICPO data showed that 1,974 commissioned and noncommissioned police officers will be deployed under the Site Task Group Dinagyang, with the police force requiring a total of 3,844 personnel for the festival.

Sangrines said the ICPO will request an additional 1,870 officers from Police Regional Office 6 to augment security coverage.

Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. Executive Director Joyce Clavecillas said uninterrupted mobile signal access would be “more advantageous” during the festival, “for easier coordination.”

Clavecillas shared her view in a text message on Tuesday, Jan. 6, without explicitly supporting or opposing the ICPO proposal.

Mayor Treñas-Chu’s spokesperson, Joy Fantilaga-Gorzal, said the city government will meet with ICPO officials to further discuss the request.

Apart from signal jamming, Sangrines confirmed that the ICPO also recommended the implementation of a 10-day gun ban across Iloilo City in connection with Dinagyang 2026.

The proposed gun ban would suspend all permits to transport and carry firearms outside of residence, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 15 until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2026.

Sangrines said the gun ban, like the proposed signal shutdown, is a standard component of police security protocols for major events and is intended to ensure the safety of both residents and visitors during the festival.