Iloilo City Councilor Alan Zaldivar raised valid points when he delved into protocols and contingencies of safety and security agencies when cellphone signal shutdown is imposed during the Dinagyang 2020 weekend on Jan 25-26.
Studies indicate that more or less 30 million Filipinos (our population now is at more than 100 million) are now dependent on mobile phones not just for communication but for information and leisure as well.
In Iloilo City and province, mobile phone use is rife. Even carabao tenders (bakeros) play Mobile Legends or browse Facebook while riding their favourite beast of labor.
Mobile phones are also standard communication tools for the police, rescue workers, fire fighters, hospitals, and other related institutions. The cellphone signal shutdown will surely affect the deployment and movement of assets needed in responding to emergencies such as accidents and fires.
While we believe that concerned already have plans and contingencies in place, but it behoves the City government to further coordinate and iron out the plans and come up with a seamless protocol.
Before approving the proposal to severe mobile communication signal in the city, the council and even the executive department should have first consulted other sectors for their suggestions and possible backup plans to ensure continuous communication and speedy response to emergencies.
Let us remember that almost all security and safety assets will be concentrated in the performance areas during Dinagyang highlights, the very spots affected by the signal shutdown. If major crises happen outside these areas and the available assets are not enough to address the situations, how fast can the main body of assets can be deployed if communication is hampered.
This dilemma can only be addressed through advanced planning, not knee-jerk reactions.
Hopefully, we will learn from this conundrum and plan in advance, at least in the next festival. Apart from security and safety issues, jamming or cutting cellphone signals will deprive persons dependent on their cellphones of the chance to watch Dinagyang via online streaming. That’s too big a mileage to lose to a very simple problem called lack of foresight.
