With finality, City Hall wins over signal jamming proposal

By Alex P. Vidal 

“There is no country on Earth where Internet and telecommunications companies do not face at least some pressure from governments to do things that would potentially infringe on users’ rights to free expression and privacy.”  —Rebecca MacKinnon

IT’S the third time in as many stagings of the Dinagyang Festival that we feel vindicated after Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas nixed the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposal for mobile signal jamming in the festival’s final two days in the end of this month.

This time, there was no need for the City Council to pass a resolution approving the suggestion of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) to shut down the telecommunication lines like what the aldermen did five years ago.

During the main highlight of the “reinvigorated” and “repackaged” Dinagyang Festival 2020, the City Council agreed with the ICPO “but only for one day.”

For a while, the decision whether to jam the telecommunication signal in Iloilo City during the festival every year became a major annoyance and distruction among Ilonggos who sneered at the proposal.

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In 2023, both Treñas and the City Council also rejected what would have been a repeat of the festival signal disruption, which happened in the last five stagings of the cultural and religious festival “for security purposes.”

It finally put to rest the long-overdue bickering on this frivolous and inconsequential subject matter.

We started to consistently oppose and criticize the mobile signal jamming in 2017 and sustained our stand on the subject matter until City Hall finally dumped the unnecessary move since it would have negative effects on the metropolis’ tourism and business.

We insisted the that although we respect the authorities and their expertise in the handling of our security, we thought it was a veritable copycat of what the PNP did when Pope Francis visited Manila on January 15-19, 2015 and during the Black Nazarene procession.

Thank God it’s over. The issue has been finally laid to rest and the Ilonggo populace can once again celebrate the Dinagyang Festival sans without worrying for a total shutdown of their gadgets.

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RULES OF THE GAME. Each country now has sovereign power rights in and under its own waters and a broad mandate to manage the resources, both living and nonliving, in its exclusive economic zone. When a country extends its defined continental shelf farther from its coast, that assures access to minerals on or beneath the seabed there.

THE SECRET LIVES OF BUS STOPS. The sleek, undulating roofs of San Francisco’s recently unveiled prototype bus stops are not just artistic flourishes. These street shelters use rooftop solar panels to power Wi-Fi routers and interactive information panels. Unused energy is pumped into the city’s grid. In 2013 the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency had planned to install 360 of the new stops around the city.

BLUEFIN TUNA. WWF says if we take bluefin tuna off the menu now, or it will be off the menu forever. If we care about sustainable seafood, go to panda.org/tuna

SAVING OUR PLANET. Let’s push away pest. The smell of camomile deters most small flies. Let’s make our own pesticide by infusing camomile flowers in hot water for ten minutes. Spray on plants to prevent pests alighting.

UNDER THE CELEBES SEA. When scientists dispatched a remotely operated vehicle to nose around the depths of the Celebes Sea, one of the world’s most biologically diverse zones, they were prepared for surprises. Still, mouths dropped at the sight of the “squidworm”, as they dubbed this extraordinary invertebrate.

HORSE SEX. During the 1600’s in Massachusetts, a teenage boy was executed for confession to having had sex with two horses, two cows, and four sheep.

WHEN WE ARE HUNGRY. We shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for food when we are hungry regardless of our status in society. Shame is for those who have abundance of food on their tables and continue to load their full stomachs but aren’t willing to share a morsel of bread.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)