Afterthoughts

The recently concluded Dinagyang Festival ended with a huge bang if we are just to listen to the organizers and Mayor Jerry Treñas and his team. Their descriptions were in the superlative degree. But that’s on them and in fairness, it’s a lot of team effort and struggles having rested the celebration for two years due to the pandemic.

Let this be a personal observation and a side trip on the signal jam that I want to discuss a few more. The way I see it, the 2023 Dinagyang Festival was a success on its own but a downgrade from where it stopped two years ago especially the tribes competition which is considered as the highlight of the weeklong celebration. It’s like watching the tribes competition in the early 90’s.

If and only if the students and schools will no longer be allowed to participate, the organizers should consider beefing up the support they give to the barangay tribes so that they can afford paying for creative directors with wider appreciation of how the performances and concepts of the presentation should be. And yes, there should be a guideline and clear-cut basis as to the qualifications of the creative directors who will be hired by the tribes otherwise the monetary support will only go to waste. “Barangay pa ya!” So the slang goes.

Meanwhile, I just cannot appreciate the signal jamming that the Philippine National Police implemented to secure the festival. It may have its merits since the bomber if there’s any cannot detonate his or her bomb using a cellphone. If you are the bomber, however, knowing that a cellphone signal is not available would you still use it as a detonator? The idea is simply a borderline of stupidity and nonsense.

The economic value that was lost since cellular signal was jammed is huge given that businesses these days rely on it as one of the major accessories or perhaps foundations of their operations. The food industry for example was on a standstill for more than 20 hours since food delivery was on hold.

If at any rate signal jamming is the ultimate solution to maintain peace and order, the National Telecommunications Commission and PNP should ensure that nearby towns are not affected. The most recent signal jamming affected the nearby towns of Pavia, Leganes and worst, the island province of Guimaras.

I mean, you chose not to go to the crowded celebration of Dinagyang since you have an internet-based work and you are based in San Lorenzo, Guimaras and suddenly your signal is lost. Have the authorities even cared to look into it? You can jam all the signal you want all over the festival area but including nearby towns and provinces is definitely a thing that must be taken into account afterwards.

I would like therefore to know if NTC and PNP have made an inquiry into it or perhaps since they really don’t care and they are just doing their jobs. “bahala kamo na da ya!”

Interestingly and worth mentioning though, the signal jamming became a thing in almost all festivals during the Duterte administration and his apologists would rabidly defend it as if Iloilo City is under threat of being terrorized and that the president is just working for the best interest of the people. The same apologists today have criticized the signal jam implemented recently posting on their social media accounts criticisms of the same policy they hailed before.