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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Thursday, January 26, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Police want mobile phone signals jammed during the Bacolaodiat Festival for security purposes.
The Bacolod City Police Office already requested the local National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) office to jam cell phone signals at festival sites from Friday to Sunday (Jan. 27 to 29).
Detonating an improvised explosive device using a mobile phone as trigger is a common modus in terror attacks targeting crowds, stressed Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, the newly installed city police head.
Safety will be the “highest priority” during the local Chinese New Year celebration, said Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
Mobile phone signals were blocked for a few hours during the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City last weekend, said the mayor.
Leonardia was a guest during the Dinagyang ati tribes competition on Sunday at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand.
Wanky was tasked to personally handle the proposed jamming, the mayor said.
Wanky said the NTC has yet to respond to their request.
If the NTC could not consider the request due to time constraints, he said they could borrow a signal-jamming device from the Iloilo City Police Office.
It’s all systems go for the Bacolaodiat as far as security is concerned, Wanky said.
Local police have started preparing security and contingency measures as early as December 2016, he said.
Some 350 officers will be deployed to the festival sites Cottage Road, Lacson Street, Bacolod City Government Center, and Yuan Thong Temple in Barangay Villamonte./PN
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