My open letter for mobile signal shutdowns in 2023

By Berniemack Arellano

Maayo lang tani kon specific areas lang, but entire MIGEDC (Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council) area is affected by this antiquated policy. Google Maps have given us a hunch that the areas beyond Iloilo City, including Guimaras, was affected by this.

I’d recommend that next year’s Dinagyang, we do away with the mobile signal shutdown policy as it hinders not only critical communications, but e-commerce (credit/debit card terminals couldn’t transact, rider-hailing apps won’t work, prepaid WiFi which uses mobile data is not functioning, some people couldn’t attend their webinars and online classes and transactions because of this) as well. We are not living in 2002 or 2012 when e-commerce and online transactions haven’t permeated our society.

Damu apektado sini.

Aside from that, it is also a missed opportunity to create live positive buzzword online for Dinagyang and Iloilo, since people on the ground will not be able to broadcast. We need to have more people, aside from institutionalized coverage from the media, to generate conversations about the festivity.

More people joining online, more people get curious about going there. Let’s make tourism marketing and promotions more democratized. As of 12 noon, the festival or Iloilo’s name isn’t trending on Twitter Philippines. We’ll take note of how many posts were posted on Facebook in comparison with other festivities a week later.

If Sinulog, Quiapo Fiesta, and even political rallies—which are themselves crowd drawers and more vulnerable to security threats—were able to hold activities and celebrate peacefully without mobile signal shutdown, why can’t Dinagyang? In political rallies and campaigns of last year’s elections, we too had VVIPs (very, very important persons) that need to be secured, but there were no mobile signal shutdowns like in the Sports Complex, in Guimbal, or anywhere back then.

As I have mentioned earlier, having this antiquated security policy does not only interrupt communications and e-commerce, but it undermines the significance of security intelligence. It gives us an impression that the law enforcers are not doing their jobs to secure our celebrations and intelligence gathering weak.

The Pandemic has, somehow, expedited our interdependence with digital solutions.

If we are to project Iloilo as a world-class city, we should also respond with innovative solutions that respond well with the times. Let’s not get nostalgic about Dinagyang before mobile phones—nga nabuhi kita sang wala pa telepono. Digital and metaverse lives that we have are already here.

Having this limitation makes our festivities insular, rather than sharing it to the world.

I hope that the LGU and IFFI would review and reconsider this recommendation. Then again, it is up to the stakeholders. This thought is para ini sa ikaayo sang syudad kag sa aton nga pagsaulog sang kapistahan. We wanted it to be heard and at the same time, safe. It is possible.

Madamu gid nga salamat.

(Bernardo “Berniemack” Arellano III is an Assistant Professor of History at the Department of Social Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He graduated with a Master of Science in Geography degree at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2019, and took his Bachelor’s Degree in History at the University of the Philippines Visayas in Iloilo in 2006. He takes interest in the merger of history and geography through placemaking practices and “sense of place” in the more localized or Filipino perspective. He served the Philippine national government as a Senior Registry Coordinator for Local Governments on the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property with the Philippine Government through National Commission for Culture and the Arts. It involves coordination and facilitation of the creation of local cultural inventories nationwide. Arellano has been in this sector since 2008 as an advocate for promoting and preserving cultural heritage of the country)